


Rare Specimen

by Deborah_Jean



Series: Rare Specimens [1]
Category: Moominvalley (Cartoon 2019), Mumintroll | Moomins Series - Tove Jansson
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Kidnapping, Lots of Crying, Not Beta Read, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 10:35:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 44,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27349750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Deborah_Jean/pseuds/Deborah_Jean
Summary: Two collectors have come to stay in Moominhouse for a while. They take a strange interest in everyone's favorite vagabond.Snufkin doesn't like the new guests and avoids Moominhouse for a while, but that doesn't stop the collectors from getting what they came for.
Series: Rare Specimens [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2027936
Comments: 88
Kudos: 126





	1. Uncomfortable Introductions

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I'm excited I guess, This is my first fic on here. Hope you enjoy!
> 
> I don't plan on this being _too_ long. If it somehow gets to ten chapters I'll be surprised.

Snufkin was on his way to Moominhouse with his fishing rod. He wanted to ask Moomintroll if he wanted to go fishing.

The sun was bright, the weather was nice and breezy, and Snufkin was in a good mood. It was a perfect day for fishing really, and it had been a little while since he and Moomintroll had hung out together.

He spotted the big blue house up ahead and smiled.  
Of course, it didn't take long to get there. He passed over the bridge and walked right up to the door, letting himself in. He knew the Moomins wouldn't mind a bit.

Inside he found Moominmamma entertaining guests in the living room. Snufkin didn't recognize the two creatures sitting on the couch.  
One of the guests was a large Hemulen with dark grey tipped hair. He was very smartly dressed with a bowler hat and a smart coat.  
The other guest had long droopy ears, a small nose, and a sour face. Maybe it was distantly related to the Muddler?

"Oh, Snufkin! What a nice surprise," Moominmamma said, handing the unknown Hemulen a cup of tea. "We have some new guests staying at Moominhous for a few days. They've traveled here from far away. I wonder if you've ever run into them on your travels?"

Snufkin was about to say he'd never seen him before, but the Hemulen beat him to it.

"Oh, so this is the famous Snufkin!" He said with a huge grin.

Snufkin frowned. _Famous?_

"It's an honor to meet you young man, you know there are many stories about you," the creature said without missing a beat, standing up and walking over to Snufkin with his paw out to shake. 

The Hemulen got too close for Snufkin's comfort so he backed up instinctively, but that just made the Hemulen get closer till Snufkin was nearly against the wall.  
Snufkin stared warily up at him.

The Hemulen's grin didn't waver, but he raised an eyebrow, paw still out.  
Snufkin went ahead and shook it, trying to be polite and also hoping he'd back up once he did. "What brings you to Moominvalley?" He asked.

"Oh, I'm a collector of sorts. I'm looking for something extra special to put in my collection see," The Hemulen said, sitting back down and crossing his legs, making himself comfortable. He didn't take his eyes off of Snufkin the entire time, making the latter very uncomfortable.

The Hemulen sat up abruptly. "Oh, how rude of us, we haven't introduced ourselves properly." The Hemulen patted his companion's shoulder. "This here is Gib. He only talks when he wants to, which isn't much."

Gib eyed Snufkin up and down.

"And my name's Knoller," The Hemulen said, tipping his hat and leaning back again.

Snufkin already didn't like these new guests one bit. Neither one would stop staring at him. Knoller especially made Snufkin think of how Teety Woo had been when he first met him. Only later Teety Woo had calmed down and stopped treating him like some idol.

And Knoller was from far away. Snufkin figured Teety Woo had heard of him since he lived right near the valley. How had Knoller heard of him?  
Snufkin did not like the idea of being well known or famous one bit. He almost squirmed where he stood just thinking about it.

"Would you like a cup of tea Snufkin?" Moominmamma asked, holding up the pot.

"Um, no thank you. Is Moomintroll here?" Snufkin asked, hoping for a quick exit, away from all the stares. 

"I think he's upstairs in his room," Moominmamma said.

"Thanks," Snufkin sighed in relief, quickly retreating upstairs. He heard Knoller calling after him, asking him to stay and chat, but Snufkin just ignored him, pretending he didn't hear.

Snufkin found Moomintroll arguing with Little My about something.

Moomintroll agreed to go fishing and Little My decided to tag along too, despite the troll's protests. Possibly _because_ of the troll's protests.

The afternoon went on and Snufkin put the mysterious new guests out of his mind for a while until Moomintroll brought them up.

"Did you see our most recent house guests?" The troll asked innocently.

"I did when I came to get you," Snufkin replied. "I don't think I like them much though. Both of them kept staring at me weird. ."

"Oh? That's not very nice of them," Moomintroll mused, his brow creasing for a minute. "You know, that Knoller guy looks very well off. He seems like someone who might be rich."

"Don't let Sniff hear you say that, or he'll be all over them," Little My chuckled.

"Mmhmm. . ." Snufkin got lost in thought.

...

A while later they went back to Moominhouse with a big bucket of fish to gift Moominmamma for dinner.

Snufkin decided to help Moominmamma clean and cook it and Moominmamma insisted he stay for dinner since he did so much to help.

Snufkin agreed but later wish he hadn't. He'd forgotten about the guests when he'd answered.

Gib and Knoller kept on glancing at him over their food, often outright staring at him, usually grinning or smirking.

Snufkin tried to distract himself from it by chatting with Moomintroll, but he could still feel their uncomfortable gaze on him.  
So he finished his food quickly and excused himself. He went to the living room to go out the front door, leaving Moomintroll in the middle of another argument with Little My.

Snufkin was about to breathe in a sigh of relief when Knoller appeared beside him, startling him.

"Off so soon young Snufkin?" Knoller said cheerfully. "You know, me and Gib really have heard a lot about you."

Snufkin glanced at the door and saw Gib standing right near it.

"Why don't you tell us a story from your grand adventures? Or play us a song perhaps? Do you have your harmonica on you?" Knoller said, stepping closer. Snufkin retreated as he advanced, getting closer and closer to the wall, feeling very cornered.

"I'm not going to do either of those," Snufkin said, getting really annoyed. "Please leave me alone. I'm going out now."

"Oh, but you can't yet, we want to get to know you better see," Knoller grinned, coming even closer. Snufkin noted his grin could be compared to a shark. . .

Snufkin backed up until he hit the wall. Knoller rested a hand against the wall, a little above Snufkin's head, towering over the small Mumrik.

"Is it true you're half Mumrik, half Mymble? That would make you a very rare specimen indeed," Knoller grinned at him like he was some zoo animal.

"Rare Specimen," Gib murmured, eyes wide and grinning.

Snufkin gritted his teeth, quickly sliding against the wall away from Knoller and backing towards the middle of the room. He needed a way out. These guys were creeping him out.

"Snufkin? You forgot your bucket," Moominmamma walked in carrying said bucket. Knoller and Gib hushed up now that they weren't alone. 

Snufkin sighed in relief at the sight of her, quickly going and grabbing it. "Thank you. Good night," He said, quickly going to the door while Moominmamma was still there.  
Snufkin went out and closed the door firmly behind him before running down the path, happy to be out in the fresh air again. 

He definitely needed some alone time.


	2. Unexpected Move

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snufkin tries to avoid the mysterious guests

The next few days Snufkin avoided Moominhouse. 

There were a few times when he saw Knoller and Gib walking about the valley and he just turned right around and went off before they had a chance to spot him.

One night he came back to his campsite only to find the two standing right in the middle of it. They looked like they were looking for him.  
Snufkin stayed hidden in the shadows, hoping they’d leave soon.  
They stayed for quite a long time. Hours even. It was dark by the time they returned to Moominhouse.

Snufkin took down his tent feeling very cross, deciding he’d just have to camp elsewhere until they left.  
He used a stick to draw a circle in the dirt in the middle of the campsite.  
A while ago he and Moomintroll made up a series of symbols they could leave for each other in the dirt to communicate with sometimes.  
Now Moomintroll wouldn’t be too worried when he saw the tent gone the next morning. He would know Snufkin was still in the valley.

Snufkin was about to leave when he looked up at Moomintroll’s window and decided to leave one last note.  
He made a circle and pressed his foot in the middle so it made a nice clear boot print.  
This symbol meant “Come find me”.

Then he left and set up his tent somewhere far enough away he was sure Knoller and Gib wouldn’t find him.

...

The next day Moomintroll found him late in the morning while Snufkin was playing his harmonica.

“Snufkin! There you are,” The troll said happily, running up to him. He plopped down on the ground next to him and listened as Snufkin finished his song. 

When he did finish it, they didn’t start talking immediately, instead enjoying the peaceful atmosphere and some birdsong. 

It was quite a while before Moomintroll asked the question that had been on his mind all morning.

“So, why did you move your tent Snufkin?” He asked, sounding confused and a little bit concerned.

Snufkin let out a very soft sigh. “Those people. . Last night I found them in my campsite.”  
He paused, collecting his thoughts. “Moomintroll. . I think they’ve been looking for me. I don’t like them.”

“Hm. They have been asking about you,” Moomintroll pondered. “Just about every day they ask me if I know where you are. But I had a feeling you haven’t been visiting because you were avoiding them, so I never tell them.”

“Thank you,” Snufkin said, smiling for a bit before other thoughts crossed his mind. “I don’t know why they have such an interest in me,” he muttered a bit bitterly.

“Well it doesn’t surprise me so much, seeing as you’re so amazing, and clever, and brave, and good at telling stories,” Moomintroll said. 

Snufkin tilted his hat down to hide the pink that crept into his cheeks at Moomintroll’s compliment. 

“Well anyway, you won’t have to stay away for too much longer. I'm pretty sure they said they’re leaving soon. Maybe even as soon as tomorrow,” Moomintroll said. 

“Well that’s a relief,” Snufkin perked up. He relaxed against the tree he’d been leaning on. “I have started to miss Moominmamma’s cooking.”

Moomintroll chuckled. 

The conversation lulled and he decided to play another song.

A while later Moomintroll had to go home and have lunch, but the two boys decided to meet up again later that afternoon to go fishing.

...

Snufkin had a spring in his step as he walked towards the river later that afternoon. Nature was especially beautiful today and he was glad the mysterious guests would be leaving soon. 

He found the perfect spot by the river and sat down to put some bait on his fishing line. 

Moomintroll hadn’t arrived yet, but Snufkin was sure he wouldn’t be long. 

The summer sun was shining lazily down on him. A nice breeze kept it from feeling too hot.  
It was perfect. He found himself closing his eyes and just breathing peacefully. 

He didn’t notice the sound of footsteps in the grass until they were very close behind him. When it did register in his mind his first thought was that it must be Moomintroll.

He was thinking to turn around and greet his friend when a hand holding a white cloth was pressed against his mouth.

Whoever it was quickly wrapped their other arm around his chest and pulled him away from the river’s edge.

Snufkin was freaking out, smelling chloroform. He kicked at whoever it was, writhing around, scratching at the hand on his mouth, but whoever it was had thick gloves on and his scratching wasn’t doing much.

Snufkin’s heart was pounding. He fought to keep from hyperventilating, trying not to breathe too much of the chloroform in.

He managed to stomp hard on the assailant’s foot. The big man yelled out, his grip loosening enough for Snufkin to twist out of it, stumbling away and gasping for air.

He glanced back, seeing it was the Knoller.

Snufkin took off, running as fast as he could, panting, heart still pounding.

Knoller was running after him. The older Hemulen was faster than he looked. 

Snufkin stumbled a few times in his panic. He tried to lose Knoller among the trees. He wasn’t sure what to do and his eyes were drooping occasionally. He shook his head, trying to keep alert.

He hadn’t breathed in enough chloroform to pass out, but clearly he’d still been affected.

He eventually managed to get pretty far ahead, but he wasn’t sure for how long.

He stopped and quickly drew a circle in the ground just with his foot, and stomped in the middle.

Then he took off again, hoping to lead the Knoller away from the mark so he wouldn’t see it. 

He made it about twenty steps when Gib showed up in front of him and grabbed both of his arms.

Snufkin yelled in surprise, pulling furiously and trying to kick him. Gib struggled to hold on to him while Knoller caught up. 

Knoller grabbed Snufkin again, cloth over his mouth. He pinned Snufkin’s arms around his sides with his other arm.

“Grab his legs so he doesn’t stomp on me again,” Knoller said and Gib did that immediately. 

Snufkin struggled, writhing around trying to kick Gib. Knoller pressed him closer against his chest.

Snufkin tried holding his breath, but his lungs started hurting and soon he was hyperventilating which really wasn’t helping.

Minutes crawled by as he tried to squirm his way out of their grip. 

He started feeling very sluggish and heavy. He was still moving, but only barely.

“Yes, yes, that’s it,” Knoller said, pleased. Gibs let go of his legs and unslung a coil of rope he’d had over his shoulder.

Snufkin tried so hard to keep his eyes open, but they wouldn’t obey. They were so heavy.

The world blinked out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> he he he. . .


	3. Breathe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snufkin gets a few answers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So right now I've been able to post quite a few days in a row because of excitement, but probably in a day or two, maybe three, I'll need to slow my pace a little.  
> I'm starting to think maybe this might slightly exceed ten chapters after all. . We'll just see where it goes.
> 
> Thank you guys so much for reading and leaving kudos!
> 
> Update: I got Fanart!!! 
> 
> https://www.instagram.com/p/CJJo3trArTX/
> 
> I'm freaking out, I don't know what to do with myself, but it's _Awesome!!!_  
>  I don't know whether to call you by your ao3 name or your Instagram name, so I just picked one? Anyway, Thank you Lionc!! You've really made my day

When Snufkin came to again he was being carried. He felt nauseous and shivery. 

It took him a minute to process that he’d been slung over Knoller’s shoulder. Knoller and Gib were quickly approaching the lonely mountains. 

Snufkin could barely move. They’d tied him up well. His paws behind his back and his arms to his sides, his legs firmly together.  
His fear and panic returned and soon he was hyperventilating and shaking more. 

“Oh, so you’re awake?” Knoller said. 

Snufkin tried to breathe. He couldn’t breathe deep enough. And his head was spinning and his stomach churned sickeningly.

“I’ll warn you, we do have a gag so you better not try yelling. Only reason you don’t have it on right now is cause we know chloroform usually makes people vomit. We don’t want you choking to death now, do we?” Knoller chuckled.

Snufkin would have tried yelling if it weren’t for that fact that he still couldn’t take a deep enough breath. He really did feel like he could vomit any moment now.  
He closed his eyes tight to try to stop everything from spinning. All this jostling around from being carried wasn’t really helping.

They’d reached the lonely mountains when Snufkin did finally throw up. 

“Ugh. Hope that all went on the ground and not on my jacket,” Knoller muttered.

Snufkin’s head just refused to stop spinning and feeling nauseous, and he could not for the life of him stop shaking. 

It was especially awful being so clearly scared and vulnerable in front of the very people who made him that way. 

Snufkin spat on the ground to try and get the awful taste of vomit out of his mouth. He just barely managed to start getting his breathing under control.

“Where- . . Are you- taking me?” He managed to say breathily. He had to shut his eyes tight again, trying not to throw up again. 

“My home,” Knoller chuckled. “Soon to be your home too.”

“My home is Moominvalley,” Snufkin said, gritting his teeth and squirming a bit weakly.

Knoller laughed, unimpressed by Snufkin’s defiance and tightening his hold on the young, shaking Mumrik. 

“Not for long. Anyway, it’ll be a day or two there once we get past this wretched mountain.”

Snufkin couldn’t do much to resist them as they made their way up. He tried writhing around, but it was extra difficult especially when after about half an hour of traveling a massive headache set in. At least he wasn’t violently shaking or nauseous anymore.

Many hours later, evening eventually set in and they stopped. They were about halfway to the other side of the mountain, taking a path that didn’t require them to go too far up. It was still rather rocky, and quite treacherous in places.

They reached a spot that was flat enough to set up a small camp. Knoller plopped Snufkin down next to a lonely tree growing into the mountain.  
Snufkin’s headache spiked at the sudden drop and he let out a pained noise. He hated that he couldn’t sit up, could barely move at all. All he could do was roll over and curl up a bit. He hated how pathetic he must look. 

Knoller kept an eye on Snufkin while Gib went and got firewood. Knoller whistled a tune while he looked through luggage that mostly Gib had carried with them. Snufkin noticed his signature green hat sitting with all the luggage. He wasn’t sure how he felt about that. 

The big Hemulen pulled out a few apples and a canteen of water.

Knoller’s shrill whistling was making Snufkin’s headache worse. “Would you stop?” Snufkin spat. 

The Knoller found it amusing. “Aw, am I bothering you? Not a good enough musician for your tastes?”

Snufkin grumbled under his breath. Thankfully Knoller didn’t continue his whistling, instead digging into an apple.

Snufkin rolled over and stared at the rock face, occasionally groaning from the pain in his head. At least now it was lessening.

As time passed and the headache faded he tried to come up with some kind of plan of escape. He tried wriggling around in his bonds, but they were very tight and he couldn’t reach any of the ropes with his claws. He wasn’t gonna be able to get out of them by himself. 

He thought of yelling, but he knew it was unlikely anyone else would be up on the mountain to hear him. He probably only had one shot when it came to yelling as he’d probably be gagged afterward. No, he’d need to wait till he was sure someone would be close enough to hear him. 

Gib came back with a small amount of wood and they made a campfire. 

While his captors were conversing, Snufkin wiggled around on the ground, slowly inching away from their camp. He tried to make as little sound as possible as he scooted away. 

He was actually kind of surprised at how far he managed to get while they were distracted and chatting. 

He actually managed to get a few yards down the path towards Moominvalley when Knoller spotted him.  
Snufkin’s heart caught in his throat when he heard Knoller’s booming laugh approaching him. 

“You’re a real funny one, aren’t ya,” Knoller said, picking Snufkin up by the back of his smock and dragging him back.

Snufkin struggled, breathing heavily, heart sinking. Knoller brought him closer to the fire, leaning him up against one of their bags and sitting down right next to him.

“Thought you could crawl away like a worm huh?” Knoller laughed, patting Snufkin’s head. 

Snufkin tried scooting away, glaring at the Hemulen. Gib came around and sat on Snufkin’s other side, blocking escape.

Snufkin clenched his jaw tight. His heart was pounding. They were way too close to him.

“Funny little worm you are,” Knoller said, and Gib chuckled.

“What do you want with me anyway?” Snufkin seethed. 

“Oh? We didn’t give it away the first day we met?” Knoller said curiously. 

Snufkin glanced between them, confused.

“Rare specimen,” Gib murmured creepily, eyes wide. 

Snufkin leaned away, disturbed. He played back what he remembered of his conversations those days ago. 

_“Oh, I’m a collector of sorts. I’m looking for something special to put in my collection see. . .”_

“You see, I have a very. . Special collection,” Knoller grinned, talking slowly. “A collection of rare and interesting creatures.”

Snufkin’s mouth hung open. That was what they kidnapped him for? To put in a collection? Like some kind of trinket?  
He wasn’t sure if he should be baffled or horrified. Probably both. 

“Then what? Are you just gonna sit me up on a shelf somewhere?” Snufkin said, disgust evident in his voice. “And anyway, do you really think my friends won’t come after me? They _will_ find me eventually you know,” He said assuredly. 

“And why wouldn’t they think you just went off to have some alone time? We’ve done our research on you, you know,” Knoller said. “We know you leave without warning all the time and no one bats an eye. No one comes after you because you ask them not to.”

Snufkin just glared at him. Of course he didn’t mention the mark he’d hurriedly left on the ground for Moomintroll to find.

Knoller interpreted his silence differently. “See? You know it as well as I do. No one’s coming for you. That’s just what happens when you push people away too much.” Knoller leaned back and put his arms behind his head. “You stay too distant and then they start forgetting about you.”

Snufkin tried to ignore it, but those words hit close to home. It was exactly the kind of thing he was afraid of.

Snufkin tried shrugging it off.

_I left the mark. Moomintroll must be coming. Right?_

Doubt crept in no matter how hard he tried to keep it at bay. What if the mark wasn’t clear enough? What if Moomintroll never found it?

Snufkin shook his head frustratedly. This line of thinking wasn’t helping anything.

But irrational as they were, the thoughts kept coming. What if he really had pushed Moomintroll and his other friends away too many times? What if they had forgotten about him? 

Snufkin sunk deeper and deeper into that pit of thought, a sick, heavy despair feeling sinking into his gut. 

Knoller chuckled knowingly at the growing distraughtness on his face. 

Snufkin hated this. He hated everything about it. He would have kicked something if his legs weren’t so tightly bound.

And then he heard something. Just a tiny sound, very echoey like it was far away. Coming from far down the path.

Snufkin’s heart leaped. Was someone on the mountain?

They might not be coming his way though. Knoller had taken them on a less traveled path where people could miss them passing by. 

Snufkin listened till he could hear it better to make sure he wasn’t ruining his chance. When he heard the sounds again he took a deep breath and yelled as loud as he could.

“HEEEYY!”

Snufkin had startled his captors. They both jumped and Knoller grabbed Snufkin’s shoulder roughly.

“What was that for?!” Knoller nearly yelled himself. 

Snufkin ignored him. “OVER HERE, SOMEONE HE-” 

Knoller punched Snufkin in the stomach and Snufkin lost all of his air. Knoller pulled him up by his shoulders and shook him.

“Shut up!” Knoller said angrily. “You’ve gone and did it now. Gib, get the gag.”

Snufkin took a deep breath to yell again, but Knoller punched him in the stomach again. 

Snufkin gasped for air. Knoller pushed him to the ground and when Snufkin tried to yell again, Knoller kicked him in the stomach before he could get anything out.

“Think you're clever huh? Did you forget we’re on a mountain in the middle of nowhere? There’s no way anyone heard you,” Knoller said darkly.

“. . Then why are you so worried?” Snufkin wheezed, trying to get enough air back in his lungs. 

“Better safe than sorry,” Knoller said, picking Snufkin up by his shoulders again. Gib approached with the gag.

“What the _Heck_?!” A familiar voice sounded from above. Snufkin looked up, seeing a dark face peering over the cliff above at them, someone with a red hat and a somewhat red nose and black hair.

The Joxter jumped down in front of them, claws out, clearly very confused and very angry.

Snufkin nearly cried. “Dad,” He murmured, trembling. He’d never been so happy to see his father in his life.

“ _Dad_?!” Knoller exclaimed, gripping Snufkin tighter. 

“Put him down _Now_ ,” Joxter growled at the hemulen. 

Knoller glared at him and just pulled Snufkin closer, much to the young Mumrik’s discomfort. 

Joxter lept towards them, but Gib intercepted him. Soon Gib and Joxter were rolling around on the ground, brawling furiously.

Knoller pulled Snufkin with him towards his bags. Snufkin writhed around, making it much harder for Knoller to keep hold of him while he used one hand to search the bags. 

Snufkin managed to wriggle out of Knoller’s hold, landing on the ground and rolling over. 

“Get back here,” Knoller grumbled, reaching for Snufkin’s shirt. Snufkin bit his hand and the Knoller yelled loudly, even madder now.

“You little beast,” He seethed. Knoller reached back into his bag and pulled out a sheathed knife.

Snufkin’s stomach lurched at the sight. He tried rolling away, but Knoller grabbed him where Snufkin couldn’t reach to bite him again.

Knoller had one arm around Snufkin’s chest, pulling him tight against him. 

“Urgh! Let go of me,” Snufkin yelled, struggling furiously. The Joxter held Gib against the ground, snarling at him.

Joxter looked up at Snufkin and Knoller, teeth bared. He gave Gib one final kick and looked like he was going to leap at Knoller, when Knoller put the sheath in his mouth and pulled the knife out, holding said knife at Snufkin’s neck.

“Don’t come any closer or your boy gets it,” Knoller snarled.

Joxter froze up, panic coming over his face.

Snufkin froze up as well, breath hitched in his throat. 

“You listen now to what I say,” Knoller commanded, sensing he had the upper hand. “You go and stand by that tree now. And don’t make any sudden moves.”

Joxter looked uncertain, glancing at Snufkin’s terrified face and back at Knoller.

“Dad,” Snufkin said quietly. He started trembling again. He couldn’t stand the look on the Joxter’s face. 

Joxter couldn’t seem to think of anything else to do. He backed up, stepping over Gib, and stood next to the tree. He didn’t take his eyes off of Snufkin and Knoller.

“Let him go,” Joxter said, teeth clenched. 

“I’m the one doing the talking here,” Knoller said, holding the knife closer to Snufkin’s throat, making Snufkin gasp and Joxter tense up even more.

“Gib, look in the bags, see if we have more rope,” Knoller said as Gib slowly got up, dazed and rubbing his head.

“No, no, no,” Snufkin felt a lump rising in his throat. His heart was pounding and he felt sick at the thought of them tying his father up. “Don’t do this- you can’t-”

Snufkin felt the cold metal press against his neck and he gasped, breathing heavier. He was hyperventilating again and shaking pretty badly.

“Shut up. I can do what I want,” Knoller said.

“Don’t hurt him!” Joxter yelled angrily.

“You’ll shut up too if you know what’s good for your precious little boy,” Knoller said, pressing Snufkin closer to his chest.

Joxter’s face was a mess of worry and fear and he was still so tensed up. Gib took a while to find the rope and when he did he looked up at Knoller uncertainly. 

“Tie him to the tree,” Knoller said. 

“No!” Snufkin yelled, pulling against Knoller instinctively. Knoller pressed him closer, his grip squeezing almost painfully tight.

“Snufkin stop,” Joxter said, as calm as he could manage, putting his hand up. “Don’t give him a reason to use that knife.” 

“Smart man,” Knoller murmured, slightly adjusting his grip on the knife. 

Snufkin trembled, closing his eyes tight, feeling tears starting to drip down his face. He couldn’t get his breathing under control, couldn’t stop hyperventilating, unable to watch as Gib approached Joxter with the rope. 

He cracked his eyes open and nearly sobbed. Gib had the Joxter’s arms around the tree, and he was still behind him finishing up.  
Joxter still didn’t take his eyes off of Snufkin. Joxter was clearly trying to look as calm and reassuring as he could for his son, but Snufkin could see the way his shoulders tensed, the way his tail bristled and lashed around, the way his body fidgeted uncomfortably against the tree. 

“No,” Snufkin choked out, trying not to sob. “Leave him alone-”

“Stupid boy,” Knoller muttered. “You brought this on him when you got his attention.”

Snufkin felt himself cry even more at that revelation. 

This was _his_ fault.

He felt sickening guilt well up out of him.

Gib finished up and Knoller dropped Snufkin unceremoniously on the ground. He went over to check and make sure Gib did a good job while Snufkin curled up and finally let out a sob. 

“I’m sorry Dad, I’m so sorry-” Snufkin cried, letting out wheezing breaths.

“What? Son, this isn’t your fault,” Joxter said, surprised at Snufkin’s guilt. 

“But I-”

“Alright, that’s good enough I suppose,” Knoller interrupted, walking back around to Snufkin. “Grab the bags Gib, we’re going.”

Knoller picked Snufkin up and slung him over his shoulder. Gib went and gave Joxter a good kick in the side before grabbing the bags.

Snufkin shuddered and sobbed, staring after the Joxter as Knoller briskly carried him away. Snufkin wasn’t sure if it was just his vision being watery and fuzzy, but it looked like the Joxter might have been crying too.

Snufkin yelled out his Dad’s name as loud as he could one last time as they turned the corner and Snufkin couldn’t see him anymore. 

Knoller made an annoyed sound and told Gib to get the gag out again. 

Gib did just that and Knoller brought Snufkin down and held his head still as the small Mumrik started thrashing about.

Gib first took a rag and shoved it in Snufkin’s mouth before tying on the gag. 

It was gross and uncomfortable and Snufkin sobbed through it, shuddering as Knoller once again slung him over his shoulder and they continued on their way down the mountain.

Hours passed miserably as they got closer and closer to the bottom. 

It was after midnight when they got to the plains on the other side. They got to a road where a carriage was waiting for them. The driver knew them and knew what was going on. 

Snufkin didn’t get a good look at the driver as he was shoved into a large trunk.

They shut the lid tightly, leaving him in pitch-black darkness. 

Snufkin weakly banged his shoulder on the roof of the trunk. He was starting to feel really claustrophobic and he was freaking out. 

He couldn’t see a thing and the walls felt like they could be shrinking.

He pressed against the sides.

He was absolutely sick of these blasted ropes! Sick of being unable to move, of feeling like a worm.

Snufkin banged on the lid again and again, but it was futile.

He heard the slap of something else being placed on top of the trunk, and another. It wasn’t long before he felt the carriage jostle as it started moving.

He kept pushing against the walls, against the roof, banging and trying in vain to get out somehow.

Soon he was gasping through his gag from the effort. Stupid, gross gag. 

He exhausted himself in all his moving about. Not to mention it was well past midnight.

It took ages but eventually, he dropped into a fitful sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some people just like to see their favorite characters break


	4. Shared Lunch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Moomintroll is worried about his friend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm open to constructive criticism by the way. I like feedback and knowing where I can improve!

Moomintroll was worried. The day before he’d been disappointed and upset when Snufkin never showed up to go fishing like he promised. 

Then he’d found Snufkin’s fishing gear next to the river left unattended which was very unlike his Mumrik friend.

That was his first hint that something was wrong.

He hadn’t been sure if he should look for his friend. Moomintroll figured that if Snufkin had wanted to be followed he’d have left a mark by his stuff. But then again, like he’d noted earlier, it was very strange that his stuff was left unattended at all. 

Moomintroll decided to ask around if anyone had seen Snufkin. No one he’d found had.

It was around then he’d been wandering around the forest and he found it. A hastily drawn circle in the dirt with Snufkin’s small boot print in the middle. So he _did_ want to be found.

A part of Moomintroll was relieved. He was free to look for his friend as much as he wanted now. He wouldn’t be invading his privacy or anything.

Then another part of Moomintroll was worried. Snufkin was always really clear when he left notes in their secret code, but this was so sloppy and rushed, and in the middle of nowhere.

Moomintroll made out a few more of Snufkin’s footprints in the dirt nearby and followed them. He wasn’t very good at tracking though and he didn’t get very far. 

One thing he noted though, was it looked like the prints were very far apart, like Snufkin had been running. 

So Moomintroll had spent the entire rest of the day searching the valley. After a while, Little My and Snorkmaiden decided to help.

They found no trace of him anywhere. Moomintroll’s worry just kept increasing. 

At dinner that night he found out their guests had left that afternoon. That was good news at least. Snufkin would be glad they were gone when he got back. 

Moomintroll kept on searching for Snufkin after dinner and late into the night until Moominmamma sent Little My after him to get him to come home and go to bed.

Now it was morning and Moomintroll was determined to keep looking for Snufkin again, though he was really disheartened since he’d nearly searched the whole valley the day before. He wasn’t going to give up though. Snufkin had told him to find him, so Moomintroll was going to do just that, even if he had to search all through the surrounding mountains. 

He scarfed down his pancakes and cleared his plate, itching to get out.

“Are you sure he wants to be found?” Little My asked, somewhat annoyedly while grabbing another pancake.

“Of course I do, he left me a note,” Moomintroll said exasperatedly, heading towards the door. “Are you going to help look for him again today?”

“What note?” Little My ignored his question, stabbing into her pancakes. “I’ve been keeping an eye on the mailbox so I know when the postman comes. I would have found a note there before you.”

Moomintroll sighed annoyedly. “It’s not a paper note, it’s something only _I_ know what it is.” 

He wasn’t about to just explain his and Snufkin’s secret code to anyone, especially not a nosy Little My. 

“I’m just saying it’s like him to disappear every once in a while. He pro-”

“You think I don’t know that?!” Moomintroll said in disbelief, starting to get angry. “He’s my best friend for crying out loud, I know he needs alone time and he can leave whenever he wants, but this time I _know_ he needs me to find him.”

“And I think you’re just looking for any excuse to find him and bother him when he wants to be alone!” Little My slammed her hands on the table.

“What? You-” Moomintroll flustered. “You think I’m making this up?!”

“Children, please calm down,” Moominmamma said, coming over with the last of the pancakes and sitting down. 

“Yes, whatever is all this fuss about?” Moominpappa said, taking a sip of his coffee. He’d only been half-listening to the argument, absorbed somewhat in a newspaper.

“Moomintroll is going to look for Snufkin again even though I’m sure Snufkin just wants to be alone again,” Little My explained somewhat bitterly. 

“I’m not making this up My, he told me to find him!” Moomintroll half yelled.

“What? Snufkin’s left again?” Moominpappa asked, sounding very unsurprised. 

“Yes dear, Moomintroll was searching for him all afternoon and well into the evening yesterday,” Moominmamma explained, calm as ever.

“Well, I’m not going to stick around here while you insult me. If you’re not going to help, then fine,” Moomintroll huffed angrily, marching out the door.

He didn’t make it very far down the porch when Moominmamma came after him. 

“Wait dear, I’ve packed you a lunch,” She said, holding out a brown paper bag with a reassuring smile. 

Moomintroll sighed and took it gratefully. “Thanks Mamma.”

“I’ve packed you a bit extra to share with Snufkin when you find him,” she said, giving him a pat on the shoulder before heading back inside.

Moomintroll smiled after her, happy to have such a smart, caring mom.

He set off with determination.

The search went on for ages with no results.

He looked everywhere he could think of, and even in places he couldn’t. 

Sniff helped him for about an hour before getting bored and wandering off. Snorkmaiden seemed to think the same way Little My had, though she was more kind with her opinion. It was still frustrating though. 

Moomintroll looked further and further towards the edge of the valley, finally deciding to try hiking up some of the nearby mountains. It really wouldn’t be that odd for Snufkin to be on top of a mountain. 

Moomintroll thought maybe the lonely mountains would be the best place to start. So he hiked all over the many paths, looking for any sign that his friend had been there, but he found nothing.

There were a few dusty footprints where the ground was softer, but they weren’t Snufkin’s. In fact, Moomintroll guessed that they might belong to that Knoller fellow, and his friend whom Moomintroll couldn’t remember the name of.

It wasn’t so odd for them to have come this way while they were leaving. What was a little odd was the path they were taking was much more out of the way and treacherous than many of the other mountain paths leading out of the valley.

Moomintroll decided he may as well follow it as it was one of the last places to check on this mountain.

It was well past noon now and Moomintroll was getting hungry. He didn’t want to stop yet though. He really wanted to find Snufkin first, reminded by the extra food in his bag.

Moomintroll was very disheartened by it. He’d already been searching for so long. The entire valley nearly. He dragged his feet along the rocky path, doubt creeping in. Maybe he wouldn’t be able to find him at all.

What was Snufkin thinking? Going off so far away? Why did he skip their fishing trip when he seemed so happy before?

And why was the mark so rushed?

Moomintroll paused in his walking as he came back to that thought.

Worry had been churning in his gut for so long now, and he felt it getting even worse. There was something really wrong here, he just knew it. And it was driving him crazy not knowing what it was. 

Then he heard something. Far, far ahead down the path, it sounded like someone was grunting. Something creaked. Like whoever it was, was pulling something. 

Moomintroll wondered what on Earth it could be on a path like this. 

He stepped carefully as the path thinned and dipped. It was quite a ways away, but as Moomintroll got closer he could hear it better.

Someone was struggling with something, sounding tired and haggard. Whoever it was sounded very frustrated too. 

Moomintroll turned a corner and gasped, freezing on the spot.

The Joxter was tied to a tree, struggling and pulling against the ropes and looking very worn out and tired.

He was frazzled and tense and had bags under his eyes.

Moomintroll dropped his lunch bag from his shock and Joxter’s ears perked up. 

Joxter snapped his head towards Moomintroll who was slightly behind him. Moomintroll saw his eyes looked a little red, and were those _tear_ tracks?

“Get me out of this _Now_ , we don’t have much time,” Joxter said urgently, resuming his frantic struggling.

Moomintroll snapped out of his stupor and rushed to untie him. 

“Don’t have time for what? What happened to you?” Moomintroll said anxiously, examining the complex knot, wishing he had something sharp on him.

“Someone’s kidnapped Snufkin,” Joxter said, voice low, quick, and shaky.

“What?” Moomintroll gasped, nearly stumbling backward. His mind went blank, trying to process what he’d just heard. 

_Kidnapped?!_

“Hurry _up_ , we have to move,” Joxter yelled, a growl in his throat.

Moomintroll’s hands shook as he tried to undo the knot, though he knew it would take some time. 

“What- . . What happened?” He blubbered, trying and failing to keep his voice steady. 

Joxter’s voice was frazzled and shaky as he replied.  
“Last night I was on my way to visit you guys when I heard him yell for help. I found him tied up with two guys. One was a Hemulen, I don’t know what the other creature was. I- I tried fighting them off,” Joxter swallowed and paused. “You should have seen him,” he chuckled sadly. “Snufkin bit the Humulen’s hand while I fought off the other guy. .”

Moomintroll felt like something was squeezing his insides. He made slow progress with the knot, unable to get a word out.

“Just as I finished up with the first guy, that Hemulen got a knife. He- _grabbed_ Snufkin and held it to his neck,” Joxter shuddered, spitting out the words. 

Moomintroll squirmed at the thought, feeling sick and wondering if he really wanted to know the rest, but his voice wasn’t working.

“I couldn’t just let him do it,” Joxter lowered his head. “I couldn’t let them hurt him, so I backed up like they said. They left me here and took him. I’ve been here all day.”

Joxter seemed to get lost in thought remembering something. He quieted and his shoulders started shaking a little. 

Moomintroll couldn’t see his face as he was behind him, but he could have sworn Joxter was holding back tears, or at least something similar. 

It was kind of disturbing seeing the Joxter like this. Moomintroll had only seen him a couple of times in his life, but he’d always been so lively and mischievous. Moomintroll never imagined he’d see anything close to this. 

“Are you almost done yet?” Joxter said, his voice gravelly. 

Moomintroll swallowed and had to clear his throat to get his voice to work again. “Sorry, this is really tight, it’ll be a minute,” He said shakily. Joxter sighed. Moomintroll tried to focus on the knot and worked in silence for a bit.

“Which way did they take him? Do you have any idea where they’re going?” Moomintroll asked.

“They went that way, probably out of the valley. I have no idea where they’re going, but I’ll track him,” Joxter said, scowling. 

“I think we should go back and get more help,” Moomintroll said, somewhat slowly. Joxter was about to reply, probably to stubbornly refuse, but Moomintroll cut him off. “No, I mean it. You look exhausted. I’m sure you’ll be able to track them, but not in this state. And besides, we’ll probably need food and supplies.”

“I don’t need supplies and I catch my food,” Joxter growled impatiently, though his body sagged and Moomintroll knew he was tired. Probably hadn’t slept at all since he found Snufkin.

“You can’t just rush in though,” Moomintroll said annoyedly. “And what if when you find them again this same thing happens? And you’re not the only one here who cares about Snufkin. We need to tell the others,” he finished stubbornly. 

Joxter looked like he was going to argue at first, but his exhaustion won out and he fell silent.

They didn’t talk the rest of the time Moomintroll took untying the ropes. 

He finally managed it and Moomintroll led Joxter back towards the valley, grabbing his lunch on the way.

He decided to share it with Joxter since he obviously couldn’t share it with Snufkin any time soon, and the older Mumrik accepted it gratefully. They ate it on the way.


	5. The Museum of Curious Creatures

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snufkin is given a tour

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may not be able to post tomorrow, though I am going to try. If I don't then I'm going to try and post the day after.
> 
> Thank you all for reading this far! I'm really happy so many people have already read this much.

Snufkin had been stuck in the trunk for far too long. He was starving and sore, exhausted, and somehow at the same time full of pent up energy.

Sometimes he felt like he was suffocating. This stupid gag made that a hundred times worse.

He spent his waking hours pushing on the walls and the lid or gasping for air. 

He’d hoped sleeping would be better, but it wasn’t really. Not with the nightmares of being suffocated and watching his dad helpless being tied up and hurt.

Snufkin woke up sobbing a few times.

Right then he was banging his shoulder on the lid again, but he wasn’t really putting much heart into it. He was sullen and bored, just methodically thumping against the lid, trying to ignore his aches and hunger. 

He wondered how long he’d been in there. A day? Two days? He had no way of knowing and it was driving him crazy. 

He laid down on the floor. He wondered if his dad had gotten free of the ropes yet.

Massive guilt welled up inside him for the umpteenth time. He felt empty, having spent so many tears already.

He tried to distract himself by listening. It was muffled, but if he listened close enough he could tell what kind of road they were traveling on.

This road was probably cobblestone. For a long time, they’d been on a dirt road, but there had also been a gravel one a while back. 

Time passed and soon they were on a much smoother stone path. The carriage wasn’t jostling nearly as much. 

Snufkin was about to resume banging on the lid when the carriage stopped.

He listened intently.

He could barely hear muffled steps, and the carriage shook a tiny bit as the other passengers got out.

Snufkin didn’t realize he was holding his breath.

They approached them and he heard them slide bags and stuff off of his trunk. 

Then the trunk jerked as they pulled it off the back of the carriage and it dropped with a thunk on the ground. Snufkin nearly banged his head.

Then he was hoisted up again and they started carrying the trunk somewhere.

Snufkin felt his heart race. Maybe they were going to let him out soon. He’d finally be out of this suffocating, dark trunk.

He thought he heard a door open and the trunk jostled like they’d gone up a few steps.

Their footsteps were clearer now, echoing a little bit. They must have gone inside somewhere. 

Some of them were talking, but it was too muffled and quiet for Snufkin to make out. He did recognize Knoller’s voice doing the most talking. Snufkin felt his blood boil at the thought of him. 

It was hard to make out everything or know where they were going, but Snufkin thought he occasionally heard doors opening and closing, and different things sliding around.

At one point they stepped onto a platform that jostled and shook like it was suspended by a rope which made Snufkin’s stomach lurch.

Then they were moving down.

Snufkin wondered what was happening by how strange it felt. Was this one of those elevators?

Snufkin had only seen an elevator once in all his travels, moved by strange contraptions with lots of rope and pulleys.

They reached the bottom with a bit of a clunk and soon they were walking again, but only about five steps before they dropped the trunk again.

Snufkin was momentarily blinded by the sudden light when they opened the trunk and had to close his eyes.

They pulled him out and he blinked, squinting, trying to get used to the light as they closed the trunk and sat him down on it. 

“Ah, rough trip? You look like you’ve seen better days,” Knoller said light-heartedly. 

Snufkin glared at him scathingly. Someone was messing with the ropes around Snufkin’s legs. 

Snufkin looked down seeing another, somewhat smaller hemulen untying him there. Snufkin was confused.

Now that he could see clearly again, Snufkin looked around, seeing they were in a rectangular room that was very grand with marble pillars and perfectly smooth floors. Straight ahead it opened up into what Snufkin thought a museum would look like. 

Gib was behind him, untying the ropes pinning his arms so tight to his sides while Knoller talked to him.

“Welcome to my personal Museum of Curious Creatures,” Knoller said, gesturing grandly towards the room ahead. Snufkin noticed Knoller was holding his hat and his harmonica. Snufkin really wasn’t sure what to make of that, though he did feel a part of him growling, not wanting Knoller anywhere near his most precious possessions. 

Knoller continued talking without missing a beat. “You know, I always thought it was such a shame I couldn’t show off my collection to more people. After all, the police wouldn’t care so much for my strange hobby, now would they?”

The only ropes they did not remove were the ones keeping Snufkin’s wrists together. Snufkin flexed his arms a bit. He couldn’t understand why they’d untie him to this extent, though he wasn’t necessarily complaining.

“So that’s why I take any opportunity I can to show it off,” Knoller grinned widely. “I mean, won’t it be nice to get a good tour of your new home for the foreseeable future?”

Gib and the new Hemulen each grabbed one of Snufkin’s arms and pulled him up into a standing position. 

“Onward,” Knoller said, sounding almost giddy. Gib and the other Hemulen stayed by Snufkin’s sides, pulling him along quickly after Knoller.

Snufkin’s legs felt weird and sore after being restrained for so long. He had to walk quickly though to avoid being dragged. Knoller had very long strides.

Knoller gave commentary on everything as they passed through elaborate hallways and display cases, but Snufkin didn’t pay much attention to it, mostly staring in horror at all the creatures behind the thick glass.

Snufkin saw many creatures he’d never heard of, and some he’d only heard of in legends.

He saw fairies. Dragons. Strange, rare trolls. A colony of inch tall people with houses the size of a shoe. Jackalopes. Seahorses. So many other strange, indescribable things.

Some people looked incredibly bored. Others stared at Snufkin passing by with sympathy. Some looked terrified as Knoller passed. 

Snufkin passed a large tank full of water with two mermaids swimming inside. When the mermaids saw Knoller coming they instantly jerked up, looking anxious and they started swimming around in a slow, elaborate dance for them.

Knoller looked pleased and prattled on some about the mermaids. Snufkin felt anxiety sitting in a pit in his stomach. Similar rushed performances had been put on by other creatures in Knoller’s “collection”. The Seahorses were expected to dance. The fairies were expected to sing when Knoller opened a slot with tiny sound holes in their enclosure. 

Something was _really_ wrong here.

They moved on and reached a room with a big water tank right in the center so someone could see what was inside from every angle.

Sitting inside among sparse seaweed and shells sat a boy. A very bored looking boy with short black hair and green eyes who didn’t seem to be drowning. Instead, he was playing cards with. . . Was that an octopus?

“Ah, and here’s the shapeshifter, with his mysterious friend, the Boy who never drowns. Looks like he’s an octopus today,” Knoller said with a smile and a gesture. “Sometimes he’s a fish, sometimes a lobster. Sometimes something else entirely.”

Knoller rapped his knuckles on the glass. The boy and the octopus barely looked up from their card game to glare at Knoller.

Snufkin caught the black-haired boy’s eye, and the boy looked him up and down with hints of pity and curiosity. 

“Change for us boy,” Knoller commanded, rapping on the glass again. The octopus made a motion like an exasperated sigh. He laid down his cards and with a flash turned into a shrimp, then back to an octopus almost immediately and picked up his cards. 

Snufkin was led away to a section that had quite a few half breeds among the other creatures. He saw a centaur, two phoenixes, a strange cross between an owl and a cat, and a girl with big horns growing out of her head. 

Snufkin never saw any doors in any of the glass cases. That made him way more anxious than it should have. 

Finally, they stopped in a large circular room. It had cases along the walls and one in the very center, another that could be viewed from all angles. 

“And this is where we’re stopping the tour,” Knoller turned around to face the Mumrik. “Here’s where you’ll be staying,” he pointed with a big grin to the large case in the center. 

Snufkin squirmed a bit, not wanting to be anywhere near it. How were they going to get him in any way with no door?

Confusingly, they led him out of the room, backtracking until they reached an unassuming door that said: “faculty only”.

They led him through and it immediately led up a set of stairs. 

Upstairs was a wide-open space with lots of panels on the floor. It wasn’t as well lit or nice looking as downstairs. 

They brought him a ways through and Snufkin had a sickening realization that they were probably right above the case they wanted him in. 

Knoller bent down and opened up a panel. It was just a hole that dropped straight down.

Snufkin struggled as he was dragged over to the edge.

“Oh yes, can’t forget these, can we? They’re such a big part of your charm,” Knoller took Snufkin’s hat and shoved it on his head, and slipped the harmonica into Snufkin’s smock pocket.

They finally untied the gag and pulled the now very wet rag out of his mouth. Snufkin gasped his first real breath of fresh air in ages. 

“You’re cruel, a madman,” Snufkin spat, glaring at the Knoller. Someone was untying his wrists.

“What you think doesn’t really bother me,” Knoller smiled. Snufkin wanted to wipe that stupid grin off of his face.

Snufkin tried to struggle and writhe his way out of their grip once his hands were untied. He did whatever he could, but they overpowered him together and forced him into the hole.

It wasn’t that high of a fall, but it still stung when he landed. He looked up and felt something in him sink sickeningly as the panel above closed with a thunk. He heard a lock sliding over it.

He’d landed on some fake, scratchy grass. In the middle of the enclosure was a fake campfire and a small log he could sit on. He could see screws bolting it to the floor.

To Snufkin’s left was a tiny pool, maybe less than a foot in diameter. He was dreadfully thirsty after being in that trunk for so long so he went over and cupped his hand to drink. 

He stood up and looked around. There were five cases in the round room’s walls, and three of them were empty. One of the other ones had that strange Owl-Cat thing, and the other one had five, floating lights fluttering around. Snufkin wondered if they were bugs, or possibly pixies, or maybe something else entirely he’d never heard of. 

Knoller and his friends approached Snufkin’s case, all with smiles that made Snufkin’s blood boil. 

Knoller opened a little slot near the floor of Snufkin’s enclosure, though since the floor in there was raised up almost three feet, Knoller didn’t need to bend down at all to reach it.

“By the way, you’ll be expected to perform whenever anyone opens this,” Knoller said. “You can play your harmonica, or you could tell a story.”

“I won’t do _anything_ for you,” Snufkin growled, hands clenched. He spat on the ground at Knoller. 

“We’ll see if I don’t convince you. Plenty of my other creatures had to be trained you know,” Knoller smirked at him. “We won’t start now though. I’m tired after the long journey. Goodbye.”

And on that note, Knoller shut the slot closed and they left. 

Snufkin glared at their backs, going as far as kicking the glass behind them. 

He paced around the tiny room, already feeling antsy from the small space. How long would he survive down here before going mad? Mumrik’s aren’t meant to be enclosed.

He _had_ to find a way out somehow.


	6. The Search Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Moomintroll and Joxter got a group to go save Snufkin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might just post every other day now. We'll see how it goes.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading this far! I love your comments!

Joxter couldn’t sleep. 

Yesterday he and Moomintroll had assembled a search party with Little My, Moominpappa, Moominmamma, Sniff, Snorkmaiden, and the inspector. 

It was much larger than Joxter would have liked, but so many had insisted on coming.

The whole valley had been in shock at the news that Snufkin had been kidnapped, especially his friends. 

Now a whole day of traveling had passed and everyone was tired.

Joxter had picked up Snufkin’s trail leading to a road with carriage tracks and they’d traveled by it till nightfall.

Three tents were set up for the lot of them, but Joxter had of course decided to sleep in a tree.

Only problem was any time he closed his eyes too long he saw Snufkin’s shaking, bound body curled up beneath him, sobbing apologies for something that was never his fault. That or he heard Snufkin’s strangled voice yelling his name just as he was carried out of sight. 

Joxter tossed and turned, feeling sick to his core at the thought of someone hurting his boy. He was angry at himself for not being able to do more, not able to protect him, and livid at the thought of those kidnappers. 

Moominpappa, Moomintroll, and Snorkmaiden were the only ones still sitting around the campfire below. Sometimes they talked in hushed voices so as not to wake anyone who was already sleeping.

“I just don’t understand, they were so considerate, never rude. What would they have wanted with Snufkin?” Moominpappa mused worriedly. 

“Well yeah, they were never really rude to us, but Snufkin said they kept staring at him whenever he was around. Not to mention, they asked about him every day,” Moomintroll said somewhat bitterly, stoking the fire with a long stick. 

“I don’t remember ever meeting them,” Snorkmaiden murmured, gazing into the fire. “I do hope Snufkin’s ok. .”

Eventually, they too had to wander off to bed.

The next morning everyone was either sullen or grumpy. Little My was especially grumpy. Joxter figured her anger for the kidnappers probably rivaled his own, seeing as how protective she could be over Snufkin sometimes. 

Joxter was pretty silent and broody as they packed up camp. They continued traveling and he walked a little way ahead of the group, staying very vigilant. He was in charge of tracking.

Snufkin’s scent was faint. Very faint. Still leading down the road. The kidnappers definitely traveled in a vehicle down this road, a carriage most likely. They had a pretty big head start.

Joxter was very annoyed at their slow pace. He would have been much quicker by himself. Multiple times he considered ditching the group. 

Sometimes he felt Little My’s eyes boring into him. She probably suspected he’d do just that. 

Not that she really needed to keep an eye on him though. Every time he was about to decide to leave, he remembered being tied to that tree, and the knife against Snufkin’s throat. He shuddered. What if that did happen again? 

That was why Moomintroll insisted they go in numbers.

But still, did they really need _eight_ people? Joxter would have preferred two or three at most. If he’d had just _one_ other person the other night, they could have kept that Knoller fellow from reaching his knife, and Snufkin would be home right now, safe and sound.

Time passed and Joxter didn’t remember much happening. They kept traveling for a day. Then another. 

Conversations were had, about what to do when they got to the kidnappers, possible plans and what not. 

Then on the fourth day, they spotted a mansion. 

It was on a huge, grand estate with gardens all around.

Snufkin must be in there somewhere. 

The group decided to set up camp a little ways away, somewhere they wouldn’t be spotted by anyone passing by. The inspector split off from the group, saying he was going to the nearest town to see if he could get a warrant to search the place.

Joxter didn’t want to wait though. The nearest town that actually had a station could be days away. No way he was leaving Snufkin with those kidnappers that long.

Fortunately, most of the rest of the group seemed to share his impatience, and after the Inspector left they decided some of them should go sneakily stake out the mansion. 

Unfortunately, there was a bit of arguing over who should go or not.

Too many people wanted to go. 

Joxter thought at the very _most_ , two should go, and he would be one of those two. 

“But wouldn’t they recognize you?” Snorkmaiden said.

“I won’t be spotted,” Joxter argued stingily. 

“It’s very annoying not knowing what they actually _want_ with Snufkin,” Moominpappa said, flopping onto a log frustratedly. “We don’t know their motivation or what they might do if you _are_ spotted. .”

“I _Won’t_ be _Spotted_ ,” Joxter repeated, a growl in his throat.

“Calm down Joxter, no one’s doubting you,” Moominpappa huffed.

Joxter raised an eyebrow at him. Sure sounded like he was.

“I think we could go in teams,” Moomintroll said, sitting down in the grass. “Some of us aren’t sneaky enough to get close to the house, but maybe Sniff and I could stake out the gardens.”

“Me? I- I don’t know, I’m sure Moominmamma could use my help back here with the tents,” Sniff stuttered. 

Why that coward had decided to come at all, Joxter had no idea. He clearly wasn’t cut out for this. 

Moomintroll sighed quietly, a bit frustrated but clearly not at all surprised. “Fine then. Little My and I-”

“I’m going with Joxter,” Little My said, putting her hands on her hips. “He and I are sneaky enough to get inside. We’ll find him.”

Joxter shrugged. “Sure.” 

“I’ll go with you Moomintroll,” Snorkmaiden said, sitting next to Moomintroll and patting his hand. She seemed very confident.

“Alright. Thanks,” he said. “So Joxter and Little My will sneak inside, and Snorkmaiden and I will scope out the gardens. Any other teams? Or are the rest of you staying here?”

“It might be better the less people we send. Less chance of one of you getting caught,” Joxter said, arms crossed. 

“Alright. You four go. We’ll stay here and finish setting up the tents,” Moominmamma said. “Be careful out there.”

The four of them nodded and left.

…

There were quite a lot of guards around. Joxter and Little My managed though. They got into the house through a window on the second story, emerging into a library. There was no one inside and it didn’t take long to know Snufkin wasn’t in it, so they moved on quickly.

There was no one in the hallway outside either and the two of them carefully started checking all of the rooms. There were drawing rooms, guest rooms, and storage rooms, and such. No sign of Snufkin yet. 

Some of the rooms were locked and had to be picked by Joxter while Little My kept a lookout.

They checked the entire upper floor, only needing to sneak around two guards. Nothing. They made their way down the stairs. 

There were a lot more guards to sneak around. It was much slower searching. 

Multiple times they had to duck into broom closets and empty rooms to avoid being seen. Sometimes a guard would stop and just hang out right around their hiding spot and they just had to sit and wait impatiently for them to move on. 

It was nerve-wracking the more time passed. It was nearing evening. Their friends would worry if they stayed too late.

One of the times they were hiding they heard a guard talking about the large group of guests coming that night.

By the sound of it, Joxter and Little My would have to leave before they finished searching the house to avoid the guests.

They just couldn’t risk sneaking around with so many people around. Especially when it was already difficult with the number of guards concentrated downstairs.

… 

Joxter didn’t know how much of the house they had left to check. Right then he and Little My were scrunched into a closet, waiting for the guards outside to move.

There were two of them, just standing out there chatting about some lass one of them met at a bar the other day.

It was dreadfully dull. Joxter’s tail twitched as he stared out the keyhole, watching the sun slowly set outside through a window. 

“Let me look,” Little My whispered impatiently, tugging on his sleeve.

Joxter sighed and let her climb onto his shoulder so she could look through the keyhole.

A little while later Little My sighed frustratedly.

“How long are they going to just stand there?” She whispered bitterly. 

Joxter just grunted. How should he have an answer? 

They sat in silence for a while. Still waiting. Joxter had nothing to distract his thoughts.

He was frustrated that they’d been searching so long and hadn’t even found the tiniest hint of where Snufkin was. 

Joxter could just barely smell him. Snufkin had definitely been in this building at some point, but it was such a tiny trace of a scent that it still didn’t help him find him. It was driving Joxter nuts.

For all he knew, they’d only kept Snufkin here a day or so before moving him somewhere else. 

Or he could be somewhere where the guards were the most concentrated. There were quite a few places he and Little My had been forced to skip that night because of where the guards were positioned. 

“It’s getting too late,” Little My murmured. “We should come back tomorrow when these ‘guests’ are gone.”

“That is if we don’t end up stuck in this closet all night,” Joxter muttered. He really didn’t want to stop searching, but Little My was right. They’d have a better chance with less people to avoid.

Ages later the guards finally moved and Joxter and Little My snuck out a window. They snuck past the garden guards and made their way back to the campsite feeling very disappointed at their lack of results. 

It looked like Moomintroll and Snorkmmaiden arrived only seconds before them which was interesting. 

“Is everything alright? What did you find?” Moominmamma asked, a hint of concern in her voice.

Snorkmaiden turned to Joxter and Little My.

“Did you guys find him?” She asked.

Joxter sat on a log and stared at the ground. 

“Not even a trace,” Little My grumbled, crossing her arms.

Moominpappa looked at the Joxter with concern. Moominmamma passed everyone bowls of stew from the pot they’d brought.

“Well don’t worry too much. We’ve got an idea,” Moomintroll said, a spark in his eye.

Joxter looked up at him, wondering if he dared be hopeful, but curious all the same. 

“We heard some very interesting tidbits from the guards,” Snorkmaiden said, a very similar spark in her eye as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to my sister who decided to read this for some reason! She's the one who commented that Knoller and Gib should die, lol


	7. Training

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Knoller gets around to training Snufkin

Snufkin’s first day in the museum was mostly spent pacing around, anxiously looking for cracks or weak spots in his enclosure. He checked all around the bottom edge and around the soundhole opening a lot. He tried scratching the glass, but all it really did was hurt and dull his claws. 

He hoped Knoller would be annoyed at the scratch marks. 

At some point, the lights dulled a bunch. A little while later someone opened the top of Snufkin’s enclosure. 

Whoever it was dropped a little loaf of bread in before closing the hatch with a thunk and locking it again.

A little part of Snufkin wanted to stubbornly refuse the Knoller’s food, but he was starving. He hadn’t eaten since before he got kidnapped. He was pretty sure that was days ago. 

So grumbling and glaring at nothing, Snufkin sat on the little log and ate the bread.

Afterward, he paced around the edge of his case again. 

Time passed. It could have been a few minutes or a few hours, he couldn’t tell. Then the lights went out and it was pitch black. 

Snufkin had good night eyes, but that was because his eyes picked up and somewhat reflected the little light around. When there wasn’t even the tiniest light to be reflected, he was as good as blind.

Snufkin leaned against the wall and sat down. Maybe if he got some sleep he’d come up with something tomorrow.

The next day he was woken up by the sudden, blinding lights turning back on in full force.

Snufkin groaned and rubbed his eyes, squinting. He wasn’t ready to be awake yet. 

There wasn’t anything to do. He was getting more restless by the minute. 

Sometime he heard the hatch above open again and someone threw down a muffin.

Snufkin glared up at the hatch as it closed, then at the muffin. He glared at it for what felt like a while before he grabbed it. He was still starving. The little loaf last night hadn’t done much. 

He managed to stop himself from pacing and instead sat by the sound flap. It was maybe a little less than a foot long, and half as tall. The holes were small, but he could fit his claws through a little.

Maybe if he focused around the holes, he could scratch up the glass and weaken it there until he could break through. Then he could kick it until it was big enough to crawl through.

It was all he could think of, so he set to work. Every once in a while he had to stop and try to sharpen his claws again. He kneaded them in the fake grass. It was dull work but it was a distraction. Plus he hoped Knoller would be mad at how torn up the grass got. 

Progress was slow. Too slow for his liking. 

Hours crawled by and he’d barely scratched the surface, but all this constant clawing and kneading was making his claws really hurt. 

Snufkin felt it must be approaching evening now. He was back to kneading the grass and had been for a while when the hatch up above opened again. 

Snufkin looked up, a bit startled. Two very big looking creatures stared down at him.

Snufkin stood up warily. 

They climbed down and landed on the grass just a little in front of him.

Snufkin backed up, feeling very tense. What the heck was going on?

They approached him hostilely. They both had thick clothes and gloves so scratching and biting might not be that effective. 

One of them held something metal and bulky in his hand.

“Come now, don’t make this difficult,” one said, sounding almost bored.

Snufkin bared his teeth as he was easily cornered against the wall. “What do you want?” He asked incredulously. 

“Knoller’s coming to train you in a bit, so you need this on,” the one holding the metal thing said, holding said metal thing up. 

The hair on Snufkin’s back stood on end and he tensed more. That did _not_ sound good.

They went to grab him and Snufkin ducked under their legs, rolling to the other side of the enclosure and springing back up.

He could only dodge around them so long in such a tiny place though, and soon they managed to catch him and grab his shoulders and shove him against the wall, holding him up so his feet were dangling almost a foot in the air.

Snufkin growled and frantically kicked at them, trying to pull his arm away as one of them grabbed it and snapped the metal thing around his wrist. 

It was uncomfortable and tight and Snufkin hated it already.

The big creatures dropped him unceremoniously on the ground and someone above lowered a rope ladder that they immediately started to leave by.

Snufkin gasped and sprang up at the sight. He leaped on the back of the creature, climbing up as fast as he could. 

The creature grabbed Snufkin’s leg and jerked him off, practically throwing him to the ground again.

Snufkin had the wind knocked out of him by the landing, but he had to get up and try again.

The creatures climbed out and started pulling up the ladder. Snufkin leaped after it desperately and managed to grab the bottom rung. He started climbing up again, but then the metal cuff beeped, sending a jolt of painful electricity through his body.

Snufkin cried out, very surprised, and now dangling by one hand from the ladder. 

He tried to resume his climb and spotted another creature above staring at him. The creature had a little remote in their hand. They clicked it and the metal cuff shocked Snufkin again. At the same time whoever was pulling up the rope shook it and Snufkin’s grip slipped.

He landed on his back, nearly banging his head on the fake campfire. He tried to get up quickly.

He jumped for the ladder, but they pulled it up too quickly and closed the hatch.

Snufkin yelled his frustration and banged on the glass wall.

He stared warily at the metal cuff. He picked at it, trying to pry it off, but it shocked him again. 

Snufkin clenched his teeth, trying again, but it shocked him a bit harder and he curled in on himself, unable to keep from letting out a cry of pain. 

He sat on the ground and tried again, trying to be more careful this time, but met the same result. He growled and pulled at his hair.

He jumped as he heard the sound flap open behind him. He whipped around and saw the Knoller there outside his enclosure, smirking at him. 

“Having fun already?” Knoller asked. His smirk faded into a frown when he noticed the torn-up grass and the scratched glass. “Hm. You’ve been rather naughty lately haven’t you.”

Snufkin thought he would have enjoyed seeing Knoller annoyed more, but he was already in too foul a mood with the metal cuff and his failed escape up the ladder.

“Can’t be surprised though since I’ve only just now gotten around to training you,” Knoller mused. 

Snufkin growled again and turned his back on Knoller, rubbing his face in frustration. 

“Now, you need to learn not to make a mess of your space. There are consequences for this kind of behavior. And one such punishment is this,” Knoller said.

The metal cuff beeped again and shocked Snufkin hard. He wasn’t ready for it and couldn’t hold in a yelp of pain. 

Snufkin was seething, glaring hatefully over his shoulder at Knoller. He spotted the little remote in Knoller’s paw. Knoller looked pretty self-satisfied. 

“Now. If you do continue to make such messes, I could always find someone to cut your claws and sand them down. I can’t imagine you’d want that, so why don’t you think next time before you scratch things?” 

Snufkin turned away from him again, grumbling under his breath and glaring at the opposite wall. 

“Onto business. I want you to play me a song,” Knoller commanded.

Snufkin ignored him completely. Silence filled the air for a bit.

Knoller pressed the button on the remote again.

Snufkin jerked, flinching, but managed not to make a sound. He growled and found himself pulling at the grass, grabbing it and trying to tear it more. 

“When I say I want a song, you need to play a song,” Knoller said. 

Snufkin could feel Knoller’s gaze on his back and it made his skin prickle. 

Knoller shocked him again. He tried commanding Snufkin a few more times. Each time Snufkin ignored him and got shocked.

The fourth time hurt bad enough to get an audible reaction out of Snufkin again. 

He got up and yelled in frustration again, punching the wall and pacing around. 

He grabbed at the metal cuff and jerked it, but it shocked him harder than ever, making him crumple over and fall on the floor.

Snufkin grumbled as he sat up and ripped at the grass again, but Knoller pressed the button again.

“ _Stop_ tearing the grass,” he said exasperatedly. “We’re having company tomorrow. You know the more you misbehave the longer this is going to take right? And once you start obeying and being good we take the cuff off of you. Course, if you misbehave again it goes back on.”

Snufkin still didn’t speak, still ignored him.

“Now. Are you done being stubborn yet? It’s time for you to play me a song,” Knoller said. 

Snufkin just paced around grumbling, not even looking at Knoller.

Another shock. 

Snufkin flinched and hissed through clenched teeth. 

_“Play me a song.”_

Snufkin paced more. 

Another harder shock that left him stumbling and managed to get a sound of pain again.

“Urgh!” Snufkin finally turned, enraged, towards Knoller. “I am not an _animal_ to be trained!” He roared, punching the glass near Knoller’s head.

Knoller didn’t even have the decency to flinch.

“I am not a _pet_!-” Snufkin hit the glass again. “-Not a _toy_ , not some _trinket_ ,” With each stressed word he hit the glass again. Surely his face was red by now. “And certainly not something that can be _owned_ least of all by someone like you!”

Knoller just smirked at him, and this time held down the button on the remote instead of just simply pressing it.

Snufkin crumpled in on himself to the floor, crying out in agony. The shock lasted much longer than before, feeling like an eternity. 

Then it stopped suddenly, leaving Snufkin breathless. 

Snufkin was trembling a little as he sat up. He crawled over to the little log bench and leaned against it, facing away from Knoller, and rubbed his forehead into his knees. 

He took very deep, shaky breaths.

This had to be some kind of nightmare. A terribly long nightmare where he could feel every pain and every ache, full of twisted, messed up people.

“You know, I could just take it away,” Knoller said.

Snufkin looked up at him, brow creased, mouth slightly open.

“That harmonica is special to you, isn’t it? I could take it and throw it away. Or I could take a hammer and smash it right in front of you,” Knoller shrugged. He slowly circled around the case until he was in front of Snufkin again, talking as he went.

“I could take it. I could take your hat too. I could take the shirt off your back. I could take everything. _Then_ you’d be an animal,” Knoller grinned at him, his hands clasped behind his back.

Snufkin stared at him aghast, his shoulders tense.

“But animals don’t play music or tell stories, do they? You don’t have to be an animal Snufkin. It’s not exactly a choice, but it’s something. You don’t need to be a pet. You can just be you. Only you’re being you, _here_.” 

Snufkin stared at him warily for a bit. Then he tilted his head down so his hat could hide his face, trying not to imagine if the two big creatures from before came back and just took everything he had. 

His hands moved on their own, coming up to grip the edge of his hat. 

“So what do you say?” Knoller asked, holding up the remote. “Ready to stop being stubborn and listen?” 

Snufkin grabbed his smock around his pocket, feeling the harmonica sitting inside. He hated the idea of playing for Knoller. Despised it. But the alternative was far worse. 

“Play me a song,” Knoller coaxed. 

Snufkin slid the harmonica out of his pocket and stared at it, holding it over his lap, hat still down to cover his face.

Knoller was uncharacteristically quiet. 

Snufkin studied the intricate details of it, fiddling with it in his hands. 

Seconds slowly ticked by, feeling like an eternity. 

“My patience is wearing thin Snufkin. I don’t make empty threats you know. I can and _will_ take it away if I need to,” Knoller said, his voice low, smooth, and threatening.

Snufkin didn’t move quite yet. He felt sick to his stomach as he tried to think of the shortest, most boring song he knew. 

He didn’t dare look up at Knoller as he brought the instrument to his mouth. He didn’t want to see the self-satisfied smirk he knew would be there. 

He finished the song quick and shoved the harmonica back in his pocket. Knoller clapped for him and Snufkin felt his face burning.

“See? That wasn’t so hard was it?” Knoller said. “Good job. Now, there’ll be guests coming every other night or so, and some of the guards like coming down here while they’re on break. If they want a song you’ll need to play for them too. They’ll be coming straight to me if you refuse, so just remember this little chat, ok?”

Snufkin ignored him, instead picking at his smock, still unwilling to even look at him. 

“See you around,” Knoller said, sounding happy. Snufkin heard the sound flap close. 

He sat there and stewed in his frustration and shame as Knoller left.

Snufkin found himself picking at the metal cuff again. It shocked him again and he groaned, rubbing his hands through his hair.


	8. A Worse Threat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bunch of Knoller's guests bother Snufkin a lot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just one more Snufkin centered chapter, then we'll get back to Moomintroll and Snorkmaiden with their plan. 
> 
> Also, Seriously, thank you all so much for commenting! You never fail to brighten my day, sometimes I get all bouncy finding new comments.
> 
> I would reply more, except I don't know what to say and I get anxiety about it for some dumb reason. I feel like a broken record just saying thank you over and over again.
> 
> There's been a few times where I was lounging around on youtube or something, then I looked and found a new comment that made me go and start writing this more

Snufkin’s third day in the museum had a lot of pacing and a lot of scratching at the glass. 

He continued scratching around the soundholes, but sometimes he just couldn’t sit still. 

This case was getting really suffocating. It was far too small and he was having difficulty holding himself together and not snapping. He desperately needed to move. Needed to see something else. 

He ached for the feeling of the wind on his face, the sun on his back, the ocean smell in the air. He was tired of bread and wished for fish and Moominmamma’s cooking.

He desperately wanted to see his friend’s faces. He couldn’t dwell on that thought for long though as it made his chest ache, especially when he remembered the last time he saw his dad. 

He found himself picking at the cuff and shocking himself often which never failed to worsen his mood.

A while ago he’d heard something about how people would rather be in pain than be bored. At the time he’d been confused and unconvinced, but now he was starting to realize what they meant. 

It wasn’t as though he wanted pain, it was just too easy to pick at and there was so little to distract from it. 

It was infuriating. 

That night guests came and looked around Knoller’s museum. 

Snufkin had been kneading the grass again, absently watching the strange owl-cat thing as he did it.

The creature sometimes flew around its enclosure, landing on different branches and ledges. It was very animalistic how it moved and did things. 

Then he glanced over and saw a group of people wandering around the museum. They hadn’t reached his round room yet, but he could see them not too far away. The way they were going, if Snufkin remembered right, they were probably going to see that shapeshifter and the boy who didn’t drown.

Snufkin didn’t know what to do. He felt a weird anxiety tingle down his back, making his hair stand on end.

They were definitely going to bother him, probably ask for songs. He absolutely did not want to do anything for them, but Knoller’s threats kept on resurfacing in his mind.

The fact that Knoller’s threats seemed to be working was more infuriating to Snufkin than just about everything else in this nightmare of a situation. It made him want to punch the wall again, but his fist was still a bit red from the day before.

Instead, he stared at the grass, feeling his face heat up. He kneaded it a bit more violently, soon reaching the thick wood underneath. 

“Are you part cat or something?”

Snufkin jumped, startled by the voice behind him. He turned around and saw a young lady who’d opened the sound flap. 

She was very well dressed like Knoller, though she didn’t look to be much older than Snufkin. She stared at him with curiosity. 

Snufkin turned around scowling and went back to kneading.

“Well? Are you? You look like you’re kneading like a cat,” She said. 

Snufkin just ignored her.

“Hm. Oh, so you’re half Mumrik. I guess that explains it.”

Snufkin turned around, confused, and saw her looking at the little plaque. Oh. He’d forgotten that was there.

“Half Mymble too, huh? That’s interesting. Snufkin is it? Is it true you're famous? I don’t remember ever hearing about you. I’m sure I’d remember if I did,” The girl said. 

“Good,” Snufkin muttered under his breath. A part of him was very relieved she didn’t know him.

“This also says you’re famous for your songs. I don’t see any instruments in there though. Do you sing then? May I have a song?”

Snufkin ignored her again. He was a little surprised by how almost polite she sounded. 

Time went by as she waited for an answer

“Come on, please? I’m sure you’re really good. You don’t need to be shy.”

Snufkin might have laughed if he wasn’t in such a bad mood. Shyness had absolutely nothing to do with it.

“Oh well, maybe some other time,” she sighed.

Snufkin was surprised. She was really just going to drop it like that? He wasn’t going to have to begrudgingly play a song to keep them from taking all he has and treating him like an animal?

The girl rambled at him for a little while, asking questions and making comments about him and some of the other creatures in the museum.

Then the rest of the guests showed up.

They flocked around his case a bit noisily. It seemed they were excited to see something new. 

Snufkin quickly felt overwhelmed. There were just too many of them, staring at him, pressing against the glass, making comments, admiring him like he was some attraction. 

Snufkin warily backed up towards the middle of his enclosure. He glanced around at the surrounding faces.

His skin prickled at their gaze and he felt too exposed. He sat, leaning against the log, and pulled his hat down over his ears, tilting it down to cover his face.

He focused on his breathing, taking deliberate slow breaths. 

_Too many people._

“What’s this then? It better be interesting,” one man said.

“Snufkin the wanderer. . Famous for his many grand adventures, his worldly wisdom, his music, and his rare half Mumrik, half Mymble heritage,” Someone read off of the plaque.

“What does it do then?” Someone asked.

“Hmm, he’s been tearing up the grass in there. How wild. He must not be tame,” someone tisked.

“A half breed eh? Interesting. .”

“What kind of music does it do? I hope it’s good -”

“It looks kind of shy. How odd. I don’t think Mumirk’s or Mymble’s are very shy usually. -”

“It’s a bit smaller than I would have expected. Wonder if it’s the runt of the litter or something, -”

“Why is it just sitting there doing nothing? This is boring -”

They went on and on, making comments about him. He just sat there, trying to keep calm, wishing they would go away or that he had a place to hide that was better than his hat.

“He looks overwhelmed,” the first girl said, sounding a little concerned. 

Snufkin wished someone would close the sound flap. Maybe then he’d be less overwhelmed without all their comments and he could pretend they weren’t there.

They just kept talking though, until someone else asked for a song. A few joined in, agreeing that they’d like to hear a song as well.

Snufkin didn’t move. He pretended he just didn’t hear them. He pulled his hat farther down over his head.

A few of them declared him boring and left to go look at something else, but quite a few of them stayed, determined to get a song out of him. 

“Come on. It says right here you’re supposed to play for us when we ask,” One of them said stubbornly.

“That’s right. We want a song. Now.” Another crossed their arms as they said this.

“Can he even hear us in there? He’s not moving,” one mused.

“Yes, he can hear us. He reacted to me earlier, though he was too shy to speak,” the first girl spoke up. 

Snufkin just barely lifted his head to see who was left. Five people. The first girl had a little glint in her eyes as she noticed him look up slightly.

“I know, maybe Uncle Knoller will get him to play for us,” she said, brightening up.

Snufkin gasped. 

_Uncle?!_

He glared daggers at her from under his hat, scratching his first impression of her. Any relation of the Knoller was surely as mad and cruel as Knoller himself.

“Yes, uncle Knoller is great at training creatures. Where was he last?” the girl rubbed her chin, brow creased as she tried to remember.

Snufkin felt his skin prickle more. He absolutely did not want Knoller to come. He had to do something. 

He growled and sat up properly. 

“Fine,” he snapped, just loud enough to get their attention and stop them trying to remember where Knoller was. 

He grabbed his harmonica out of his pocket and held it for a second as he thought of a song. Something short. Unimportant.

He didn’t bother putting any care into it, sometimes being downright sloppy. Perhaps the worse of a musician they thought he was, the less they would bother him.

He finished the song and shoved his harmonica back in his pocket.

“There. A song. Would you leave now?” Snufkin snapped angrily at them, standing up and giving them all the best glares he could. 

One of them chuckled. Another insulted his song and left. The Knoller’s niece clapped.

“That was nice,” she said.

“You kidding? That was mediocre at best. I’m off to look at those seahorses again,” another said, leaving.

Snufkin glared at the Knoller’s niece. His hands were clenched. She just stared back with a smile and that glint in her eye.

Snufkin huffed and sat down on the log bench. He heard more of them leave and let himself sigh in relief. 

Then he realized the skin-crawling feeling of being watched hadn’t left him yet.

He glanced back and saw the Knoller’s niece was still standing there. She was the only one left.

Snufkin scowled at her. “What are you still doing here?” he said bitterly.

“I think that was a nice song,” She said with a grin.

“You have bad taste,” Snufkin said stingily, turning to stare at the fake campfire.

“Oh, don’t beat yourself up like that. I’m sure you’ll get better with some practice,” She said, circling the case so she was in front of him instead of to the side.

“I don’t think you get it,” Snufkin glared scathingly at her. He stood up and stalked over to the glass, towering over her. “I don’t want to be good here. I don’t want to play music for anyone who demands and threatens to get it.” At this point, he was almost yelling at her.

She looked a little confused. “Where’s the sense in that? I can’t imagine _not_ wanting to get better at something just because someone’s being mean to you about it. .”

Snufkin was just baffled at her logic. How could anyone be this daft?

He decided he didn’t care if she understood or not, and he stomped back over to the log bench and sat with his back to her.

She just strolled around the case till she was in front of him again. “Are you always this cross? What’s gotten you so angry?” She said, sounding curious. 

Snufkin raised an eyebrow at her, even more baffled at how ignorant she was. “ _Really_? Why don’t you take a wild guess. What could I possibly be upset about right now?” He said angrily, gesturing a little around him. “I mean, are you really this dense? Do you really think anyone would like being treated like this? Shoved in a cage, electrocuted, and threatened? Put on display for people to look at and judge and demand songs?” By now Snufkin was really yelling, almost passionately, probably red in the face again.

She blinked at him. “Oh.”

Snufkin glared at her more. There was a pause of silence.

“So that’s it. You’re just not settled yet,” She said with a shrug. 

Snufkin was done. Just so done with her. With everything. She clearly would never understand, and Snufkin didn’t care if she did. Didn’t care one bit. 

He turned around so his back was to her again and stewed in his anger while she kept talking.

“That’s ok though. You’ll get used to it. Oh I know, I’ll make some brownies, then I’ll ask the guards to give one to you. Maybe that will make you feel better,” She said.

Snufkin bit down a scathing response. He was done. He wasn’t going to look at her, wasn’t going to talk to her. He was just going to sit there and ignore her, and if she went in front of him again and tried to get his attention he was just going to hide under his hat more.

He grumbled under his breath and stewed. She just kept on talking, about this and that and whatever. He wasn’t listening,

She went on for ages and ages. 

At some point, a few people came back to look at him more. The skin-crawling feeling increased tenfold at all their stares.

Snufkin just tried to be as boring as possible. 

In the end, he had to play another two songs to avoid them going and getting Knoller. 

Snufkin was exhausted and misreable by the time they finally left. 

…

The next day Knoller finally noticed Snufkin’s concentrated scratching over the sound holes.

It was nearing evening again, and Snufkin had spent most of the day scratching and kneading. 

Then some guards who were apparently on break decided to bother him and demand a song.

It was just as infuriating as usual, but Snufkin did it anyway.

Then one of the guards took a closer look at the sound holes and noticed just how scratched up they were.

The guard went and informed Knoller.

Snufkin was panicking. There was an icy dread settling in. What were they going to do?

Knoller walked in. There was very little emotion on his face. He said nothing as he walked over to the sound flap and examined it.

Snufkin felt he would have preferred if Knoller was angry. This cold silence just worsened his dread.

He felt all his hair standing on end. He was standing near the middle of his enclosure, feeling very tense, like a coiled-up spring.

Knoller shook his head and then gazed at the fake grass which was worse than he’d last seen it. Knoller then stared Snufkin in the eye.

“I warned you to think before you scratch things,” He said, almost nonchalantly before walking away.

Snufkin stared after him, confusion and dread worsening. What was he going to do?

The rest of the guards left, some of them giving Snufkin smug looks which really didn’t help his anxiety.

Time passed. Anywhere between five minutes to half an hour. Snufkin wasn’t sure. The waiting just made him feel worse. This had to be some kind of calm before the storm.

Then later the hatch above opened and Snufkin nearly jumped out of his skin. His heart was pounding as he backed up and stared at the creatures above him. 

They came down. Two of them, like before, both wearing thick clothing and gloves.

One was holding a familiar white cloth.

Snufkin stared at it aghast and was soon breathing much heavier.

They approached him and Snufkin panicked, jumping out of the way as they tried to corner him. 

He led them on quite a chase, leaping and rolling out of the way, just barely managing to keep out of their grasp. He was full of adrenaline and thoroughly freaking out.

They tried their best to corner him, getting more and more annoyed as he escaped them over and over.

Then Snufkin’s metal cuff beeped again, startling him badly before pain abruptly shot through him, causing him to collapse in a heap.

He was breathless and shaky when it finally stopped. He tried to get up, but then the guards grabbed his shoulders and shoved him against the wall.

Snufkin yelled, panicking, scratching and struggling and kicking, but it was futile. One of them pressed the cloth against his nose and mouth.

Snufkin could smell it. The chloroform, reminding him far too well of that day in the forest.

He struggled, writhing against their grip, managing to kick one of them pretty hard, all the while unable to stop himself from hyperventilating. 

His heart was racing, his hands shaking as he tried in vain to pry the hand off of his mouth.

Minutes crawled by as he was forced to breathe it in, feeling his body slowly turning more sluggish.

He tried in vain to keep his eyes open, to keep fighting, but his body wasn’t responding. It was shutting down. 

The last thing he was aware of was his body slumping forward a little.

... 

Snufkin came to slowly. He noticed he was lying on the floor, on his stomach. It was a hard wooden floor and it was very dim in this room. 

His body was shaking. He couldn’t seem to stop. 

It felt like the world was tilting around him like he was about to fall even though he was laying on the floor.

He was nauseous and felt his head spinning a little.

Then he remembered the cloth. Being suffocated. He started freaking out again, breathing heavier and shuddering. 

He tried gripping the floor, something to steady himself, but something was wrong with his claws.

Snufkin brought his shaking paw near his face to see better and saw someone had cut his claws. Not only that, but they’d been really sanded down into tiny, useless nubs.

Snufkin shuddered, feeling sick as he flexed his fingers. 

They really cut his claws. 

The world tilted around him again and his stomach flipped. He closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead, trying not to think. Trying not to think of what else they could do while he was unconscious. Trying not to let his imagination carry him away and terrify him. 

Snufkin’s nausea worsened some and soon he felt like he was going to throw up. He managed to hold it down, but he didn’t know for how long.

He wanted to sit up. To find out where he was.

Trembling all the while, he managed it, finding a wall to steady himself with.

The room spun and he had to close his eyes, holding down the meager contents of his stomach again.

When he was able to open his eyes again, he was able to notice how small and empty the room was. It was even smaller than the glass case, and the only other thing in the room was a little wooden bucket that sat near him.

Snufkin was glad the bucket was there when he did finally throw up. 

Then the door opened and Knoller walked in. Snufkin recoiled at the sight of him.

“So. Was it worth it?” Knoller asked, towering over him. He was very calm, not a hint of anger anywhere.

Snufkin desperately wished he could stand up. He wanted to be able to face him properly and just not feel so utterly weak and helpless.

“Was it worth tearing up the grass and scratching the glass up? I did warn you. I don’t make empty threats. And now you’ll have to wait in here while they’re fixing up your case for you,” Knoller shrugged a little as he said it. “And to think, Knollermaiden asked me to give you one of her brownies tonight. I don’t think you deserve it now. In fact, I think tonight you’ll just have to go hungry. No dinner at all.”

“I don’t want her stupid brownie,” Snufkin muttered, glaring up at him.

Knoller raised an eyebrow at him. He smirked. “You wouldn’t be saying that if you’d tried them before. But anyway, I wasn’t finished. You see, I had the greatest epiphany earlier about how to get you to behave faster.”

Snufkin stared at him warily, trying to ignore the dread rising in his gut. Knoller seemed to notice the change and he chuckled.

“You see, it’s quite annoying getting scratch marks off of glass, and can be quite expensive too, especially when you need to hire someone who won’t bust you and your weird hobby to the cops. I didn’t really want to wait days, or even weeks for my usual training methods to really kick in. Then I remembered your reaction to that Mumrik we met on the road on the way here. Your dad right?”

Snufkin’s breath hitched and his eyes went wide. Knoller seemed to like his reaction.

“Yeah. I wonder if he’s still all tied up there. That was a very untraveled road. It’s quite likely he hasn’t been found yet, isn’t it? So I was thinking. What if I sent some men down there to get him? Keep him in here where I can keep a better eye on him?” Knoller said, a wickedly casual smile on his face.

Snufkin’s breathing was growing ragged and shaky and he pressed his back against the wall. “No,” he said shakily. “You wouldn’t-”

“Now, now, don’t you remember?” Knoller said, putting his hand on the wall and leaning over Snufkin, his face only about a foot away.

“ _I don’t make empty threats._ ”

Snufkin shuddered, sinking down a little, hating how close he was. He remembered his dad, trying to look calm as he was tied up. He remembered Gib kicking him in the side.

“He- he wouldn’t still be there,” Snufkin stuttered, trying in vain to keep his voice from shaking. “He’d find a way out, you’d be wasting your time.”

Knoller straightened back up and rubbed his chin. “Wouldn’t hurt to check. Though, even if he has gotten away, we could always get someone else,” He said, a glint in his eye.

“ _What_?” Snufkin said, dread rising. 

“I spent a few days around your friends you know,” Knoller grinned. “What would poor Moominmamma think if her son mysteriously went missing one day?”

Those words stabbed through him like a knife. 

“No,” he trembled, shaking his head and getting very pale. “No, you can’t. Leave him alone-”

Knoller went on like he hadn’t heard him. “I mean, surely a Moomin can’t be any harder to catch than you were. Moomins aren’t that rare, but I’m sure I could fit him in here somewhere.”

“No, _please_ , no,” Snufkin said, voice shaking, cupping his head in his hands. He was breathing rather heavily, almost hyperventilating.

“Well. Maybe there’s something you can do to keep them safe,” Knoller smiled triumphantly. “To start, you can make sure to keep your claws to yourself and stop damaging your case.”

Snufkin stared at the ground, trying in vain to calm himself, to stop shaking and trembling, all while feeling like something cold was squeezing his insides.

“Can you do that for me?” Knoller said.

Snufkin felt something in him sink sickeningly as he nodded weakly. He still didn’t dare look up.

“Atta boy,” Knoller smiled, patting Snufkin’s shoulder. Snufkin flinched and recoiled at the touch.

A little later someone knocked on the door.

“Oh, they must be done. Come along now,” Knoller said, grabbing Snufkin’s arm roughly and pulling him up.

Snufkin stumbled along as Knoller dragged him out of the room. They were in that room with all the trap doors and hatches. Knoller was bringing him to an open one across the room. Back to his case.

Snufkin weakly tried to pull against Knoller’s grip, but he was too distraught and still a bit nauseous to put up a real fight.

Knoller dragged him all the way there and dropped him through the hole.

Snufkin landed on his hands and knees, hearing the hatch shut above him.

The grass was fresher than when he’d first arrived and the glass had no traces of any scratches. 

Snufkin curled in on himself and shuddered. This nightmare just loved getting worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dear Amelia,
> 
> Sometimes it's just fun writing despicable, evil characters :)


	9. New Girl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snorkmaiden goes undercover.
> 
> Snufkin makes a friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These chapters have been getting a bit longer, so they've been taking longer to write. So don't get too worried if some of the next chapters get posted a bit late.  
> I'm having a lot of fun writing this and I really want to finish it.
> 
> All that said, Thank you all so much, again, and again for reading and leaving kudos and commenting! You never fail to make my day!

Snorkmaiden was outside a grand house. It wasn’t as big as the Knoller’s mansion, but it was plenty fancy.

Moomintroll and Moominpappa were hiding nearby just in case, but Snorkmaiden would be taking on the bulk of this mission alone.

The end plan was to get invited as a guest to Knoller’s house so she could look around freely while undercover. And to do that, Snorkmaiden was going to befriend his niece.

Snorkmaiden was by far the best candidate for this mission for a few reasons. One of them being she was much better at acting and flattering people and making friends, and the other being that Knoller would recognize just about everyone else in their group and get suspicious of them.

Meanwhile, Joxter and Little My were staking out the house for about the fifth time. They refused to give up looking for Snufkin.

Snorkmaiden never tried to talk them out of it. She figured if she already knew where Snufkin was before she went in, it would be much easier for her to find a way to get him out when it was time. 

Snorkmaiden steeled herself, going through the plan in her head one more time before walking through the front gate, going up to the front door to knock.

She passed tons of flowers, of all different kinds on the way up. Snorkmaiden wondered if this niece of the Knoller attended the flowers personally like a hobby, or if she had gardeners. Maybe it’d be a good topic of conversation.

Snorkmaiden clasped her paws behind her back as she waited for someone to answer the door.

A few minutes passed.

Finally, the door opened and a young lady who looked quite like a Hemulen answered it.

“Hello there,” Snorkmaiden said brightly. 

“Oh, hello,” the Knoller’s niece said, seeming kind of surprised to see her. “I don’t think we’ve met?”

“Oh, I’m sure we haven’t yet, but I’ve decided I’d like to meet you if that’s ok. You see, I’ve just recently moved to a house quite near here, and today I was exploring and just happened across your lovely home,” Snorkmaiden explained. “And I thought I just _had_ to meet my new neighbors.”

“New neighbors? Oh, that sounds exciting,” Knoller’s niece smiled brightly. “Do come in. My name’s Knollermaiden,” she said, gesturing inside.

“Lovely to meet you. I’m Snorkmaiden,” Snorkmaiden said, stepping inside.

“Would you like some tea? I’ll get Ann to make some for us,” Knollermaiden said, walking towards a door.

“That would be very nice, thank you,” Snorkmaiden said, looking around. The inside was just as grand and put together as the outside.

The girls ended up sitting outside in a little pavilion and had tea served by Knollermaiden’s maid. 

They got to talking about all sorts of things. Snorkmaiden found out that Knollermaiden did indeed take care of most of the flowers herself. She loved them quite a lot.

Eventually, Snorkmaiden started steering the conversation towards family. She went ahead and talked about her brother and his inventions.

Knollermaiden talked about her uncle.

Snorkmaiden learned that Knoller was Knollermaiden’s only living relative and they visited a lot. Knoller also had a very big collection he was really proud of and loved to show off.

“Really? What kind of collection? I know a Hemulen who’s collecting all sorts of flowers,” Snorkmaiden said, sipping her tea. 

“Oh, it’s a very special collection. It’s kind of a secret, but maybe I can convince him to let you come next time I visit and you can see for yourself,” Knollermaiden said grinning.

“Why I’d love to,” Snorkmaiden beamed. “You’ve got me very intrigued. A _secret_ collection? When are you going over next?”

“Well right now he’s away for a few days to get the next piece of it,” Knollermaiden smiled mysteriously. “So I’m waiting till he gets back. That’ll be in, I think three days or so. Why don’t you come back then?”

Snorkmaiden was a bit disappointed she’d have to wait so long, but at least the plan was still working. 

“Of course! I’ll see you then,” She smiled. “By the way, what kind of tea is this? It’s delicious.”

“I got a bag of it as a gift a while ago. It’s very exotic. I can’t remember the name right now though. I’ll ask Ann,” Knollermaiden said.

The girls continued chatting about this and that, plenty of girly things. Snorkmaiden managed to have a little fun throughout it, though she always stayed vigilant, remembering the end goal. 

Eventually, though, it started getting a bit late and Snorkmaiden knew if she stayed much longer Moomintroll and Moominpappa would get worried. 

So she bid farewell. Knollermaiden was sad to see her go so soon. They confirmed the date and time Snorkmaiden was coming back, and Snorkmaiden left with a spring in her step, happy how the plan was progressing.

Snorkmaiden wondered if Knollermaiden was in on the kidnapping Snufkin thing. If she wasn’t, and it was just her uncle who was the villain, Snorkmaiden could see herself becoming real friends with the girl. They had quite a lot in common and had lots of fun.

Snorkmaiden made her way to some bushes just a little way away from Knollermaiden’s house where she knew Moomintroll and Moominpappa were waiting for her.

“Hey, it’s me. You still there?” Snorkmaiden said quietly, approaching.

“Yeah. Is it all clear out there? How’d it go?” She heard Moomintroll talking relatively quietly as well.

“It went perfectly,” Snorkmaiden smiled. “I’ll fill you in on the way back to camp.”

The two Moomins emerged from the bushes and they cut through the nearby forest to get back, making sure to stay out of sight from the road just in case.

“So, I’m going back in three days. She said she was going to try and convince her uncle to let her show me his collection,” Snorkmaiden said as they walked.

“Three whole days?” Moomintroll sighed disappointedly, worry clear in his voice.

“Yeah, I know. It’s longer than we would have wanted, but it’s something. The plan is working,” Snorkmaiden said.

“Yes, I suppose so,” Moominpappa said a bit distantly. “I wonder what's taking the inspector so long. If he gets back with his search warrant soon we won’t need to wait so long. . .”

“Maybe there wasn’t a proper police station in the nearest town and he had to go to the next one,” Moomintroll pondered. 

“Maybe.”

They got back and explained everything to Moominmamma and Sniff, and when Joxter and Little My got back from searching they were told as well.

They were disappointed by how long it was going to take and frustrated that their constant searching was still getting them nowhere, but even if it was slow, they were glad the plan was progressing. 

………

Snufkin was pacing again. He’d been doing it all morning. He was really going stir crazy. 

He abruptly sat down on the log. He started bouncing his leg rather quickly. He stayed there a few minutes. 

Then he got up and drank some water from the tiny pond. Then he started pacing again. Just pacing. Pacing. Around and around and around again.

He stared at the floor mostly, occasionally twitching. The room was just too small. It felt like it got smaller every day. Just slowly shrinking and shrinking. Closing in. Suffocating him. 

Snufkin leaned against the wall, pushing on it. He was breathing heavily again.

Was the air getting thin in here?

He didn't know. 

He’d been here too long.

He couldn’t breathe. 

Snufkin slid down the wall till he was sitting, cupping the sides of his head and pressing against the wall.

He tried to calm himself. Tried to breathe, to take deep breaths.

He stared at the ground. The grass. The fake grass.

He felt a hollow aching in the pit of his stomach.

He wanted desperately to be in the forest again. To feel the wind and smell the earth. To sit on real grass with weeds and flowers and bugs. To feel rain and snow and dirt. To hear bird songs and rushing creeks and rivers. To climb mountains and explore beaches.

He longed for it so bad he could feel his bones ache. He took one very deep, shaky breath. 

His stomach growled painfully.

This hunger, at least, he could deal with. Being a vagabond meant he’d gone hungry quite a few times in his life. He could manage this.

He stayed sitting there for quite a while. 

Then he abruptly got up again and resumed pacing, though the aching and longing in his bones wouldn’t go away.

He found himself rubbing his wrist where the metal cuff had left an imprint on his skin. They’d taken it off of him two days ago.

Or was it three days ago? Or yesterday?

Wait. . .

Snufkin stopped in his tracks. How long had he been stuck there? A few days? A week? A month?

He started freaking out. He couldn’t remember. 

He sat down again on the log. His leg started bouncing.

How long had it been since he’d seen his friends? His family? 

He grimaced and started trembling.

He wanted to see them. To hear them laugh. To hug them. He wanted to see them so badly.

He leaned and put his head in his lap. He could feel tears pricking the corners of his eyes.

He thought of Moomintroll first. His best friend for years now. The friend who always waited for him to come back every spring. The friend who always looked so happy when he returned, beaming and laughing and offering a hug that Snufkin usually refused. 

How he regretted refusing those hugs now.

Surely now Moomintroll was wondering where he was. Then time would pass and Snufkin wouldn’t come back, and then Moomintroll would finally forget about him. He’d move on.

Snufkin felt like he was being squeezed into a million pieces. He felt a sob building in his throat that he tried to hold down.

Moomintroll, Sniff, Snorkmaiden, Little My. . They’d all forget about him because he couldn’t go back. Because he pushed them all away too much. 

Even if Snufkin did eventually find a way out of this hell, it’d be too late.

He trembled and cried in his lap. He missed all of them _so_ bad his chest was hurting. 

He must have stayed there like that for ages. Hours even.

He didn’t move for quite a long time.

Time crawled by.

Ever so slowly like a snail.

Hours passed.

His eyes were red.

He wasn’t crying anymore.

He just sat, staring at nothing, wondering when the lights were going to dim.

It had to be soon. Then they’d give him more dry bread.

He waited.

And waited.

He heard something very faint. His skin prickled. Someone was outside his case.

He didn’t want whoever it was to see his red eyes and know he’d been crying, so he only just barely tilted his hat up to see who it was.

He gasped.

Knoller and Gib and one of the guards were outside, and there was a girl.

A girl with long curly hair that was the brightest, cherry red hair he’d ever seen, with her hands behind her back and Gib and the guard escorting her just like they’d done with Snufkin so long ago.

She had a gag just like he’d had. She looked absolutely furious, but also horrified like he’d been.

Snufkin stared aghast. His jaw hung open a little. 

Knoller was smiling and talking. He led the girl over to the owl-cat’s case and they looked at it some. Then to those weird floating lights that might have been pixies.

Then they went over to Snufkin’s case.

Snufkin couldn’t look away from Knoller’s newest victim. She found his eyes and stared back piercingly. Her eyes were bright crimson red. They looked almost unnatural. 

She looked almost as aghast as Snufkin did.

He then remembered how red and tear stricken his eyes must still be.

He tilted his hat down a tad and grimaced. 

Knoller finally finished talking and opened the sound hatch.

“A song please, for our newest guest,” Knoller said. Snufkin could hear the smirk.

Snufkin couldn’t process the words immediately, still too horrified imagining what this new victim must have gone through getting here.

A minute later Knoller cleared his throat impatiently. Snufkin finally processed what he’d said and slowly, reluctantly took out his harmonica.

He played one of his older spring tunes. One that was shorter. He kept his hat down as he played it.

He finished and put his harmonica away. Then he peeked out from under his hat again at the girl.

She was focused on him, staring with those unnatural, piercing, red eyes. She stared so intently, horror and fear in the background.

Then they dragged her away. On to the next exhibit or something. Snufkin stared after them.

Meanwhile, one of the guards came over with a new plaque and hammered it to a stand in front of one of the wall cases near Snufkin’s case, opposite to the owl-cat.

Snufkin’s eyes widened when he realized what this probably meant.

Not too long later his suspicions were confirmed and Snufkin saw the girl drop through a hatch, tumbling into her new enclosure. 

She scrambled back up looking frazzled. Snufkin saw her jump a little when the hatch closed. She looked furious, stomping around and hitting the wall hard before wringing her fist because apparently, she hit it too hard.

Then she caught sight of the mural on the back wall of her enclosure and she froze. She took a shaky step back.

Snufkin looked confusedly at the mural. It was just a simple thing. A mural of some old fashioned houses situated like a town, with a little road and a street lamp and odd and ends here and there.

And though Snufkin could only see her back right then, she looked very shaken up about it. Snufkin wondered what was wrong.

She collapsed on her knees and started shaking, staring at it. 

Snufkin felt like he was intruding on something. He looked away, trying to give her some kind of privacy. 

It took a lot of willpower, keeping his eyes on the ground in front of him, but he thought it would be rude to keep staring at her. So he managed. 

He rested his chin on his paw and picked at his smock with the other paw. At some point, he gripped his smock around his harmonica in his pocket again, just thinking.

It was a tiny comfort, being able to feel it in there. 

What had he been thinking playing one of his spring tunes? Until then, Snufkin hadn’t played any of his originals for Knoller or any of those annoying guests. 

What had come over him?

Some time passed. He continued to keep his eyes to himself. 

He thought about things. More time passed.

Then he felt his skin prickling again. Someone was watching him.

He glanced confusedly back to the girl.

She was standing with her hands pressed against the glass of her case, staring intensely at him. Her gaze was hard and urgent like she _wanted_ him to look back.

Snufkin didn’t know what to do. This was starting to get a little uncomfortable. She found his gaze and the intensity of her stare grew.

“ _Hey,_ ”

Snufkin nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard the voice in his head. He’d stood up, glancing around frantically. He looked back at the girl.

“ _Stop! Just don’t look away, wait,_ ” The voice continued. The girl stared at him pleadingly. The voice was feminine.

Snufkin stumbled backward, staring at her bewildered. What was going on?!

“ _Just please, look at me, I can’t do this if we break eye contact. I just_ need _to talk to someone_ ,” she said. 

“Wha- _How_? . . Who are you?” Snufkin said, baffled.

She seemed to relax a little. “ _I’m Jenny. Who are you?_ ”

“. . . Snufkin,” he replied, inching back forwards and sitting on his log again.

“ _Hm._ ” She looked a little bit sheepish for a second like she was thinking of asking something and wondered if it was a good idea.

“ _Were. . . . . Were you crying earlier?_ ” She asked hesitantly, glancing away for a second before staring at him again.

Snufkin groaned a little and broke eye contact, rubbing his face. He took a moment to compose himself before looking back up to reply, only as soon as he looked at her again she spoke.

“ _I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked. I just-. . . . I’m dreading what might happen here,_ ” She said, rubbing her arm nervously. “ _I’d rather just know so I can prepare myself mentally and not freak out as much, but if you don’t want to talk it’s ok. ._ ”

“What? Oh,” Snufkin processed her words and thought a minute. “No, it’s ok. . . I did cry earlier. I just. . . .” 

He got lost in thought, starting to stare past her instead of at her. He remembered Moomintroll’s face. The longing started creeping back full force and Snufkin shook his head, pushing the thought away before it overwhelmed him. 

“I was thinking of my friends,” he murmured, having difficulty looking at her while he said it.

“ _Oh,_ ” She murmured back, rubbing her arm more. There was a long pause between them.

“ _. . . . Are they stuck here somewhere too?_ ” She asked timidly.

“Huh? Oh no, not at all, thank god for that,” He breathed that last part, remembering what Knoller said in that wooden room, feeling a chill in his bones. He shuddered, trying to block out those terrifying thoughts.

“ _Well that’s good,_ ” Jenny sighed.

Snufkin realized something as they stared at each other. Her eyes weren’t bright red anymore. Instead, they were a faded green. What kind of creature was she?

“Weren’t your eyes red earlier?” Snufkin asked, confused. 

“ _Oh. Yeah, I guess they must have been. . ._ ” She said, seemingly getting lost in thought. 

“Do they change color a lot?” He asked curiously.

“ _Not usually if I can help it. Sometimes I can control it, but other times I get too emotional and they go red,_ ” She said a bit reluctantly. “ _It can be dangerous if people know what I am. ._ ”

Snufkin didn’t want to ask. It seemed like a touchy subject. Dangerous apparently, but she saw the curiosity and confusion in his face.

“ _Do you know the Viper Brotherhood?_ ” She asked.

Snufkin shook his head. He’d never heard of such a thing.

“ _Years ago they killed nearly every one of my kind and destroyed most of our village,_ ” She said. “ _That’s why it’s dangerous. I don’t want them hunting me down for my eyes._ ”

Snufkin stared agape and horrified. It took a minute to get his wits about him again. “They want to hunt you for your _eyes_?”

She nodded darkly. She was well guarded, but Snufkin saw little hints about her that showed dread. “ _Apparently there’s a place very, very far away that finds our scarlet eyes very beautiful. They pay the brotherhood good money for them._ ”  
She shuddered some. “ _I’m just glad this Knoller got me when I slipped up instead of them._ ” Her voice was getting a little shaky and quiet. She sunk down and sat on the floor, hugging her legs. “ _He seems to prefer me alive. I don’t think he’ll hand me over to them. . ._ ”

Snufkin was just bewildered at the thought of anyone being _glad_ Knoller had kidnapped them. It was very difficult for him to process and get through his head.

Eventually, a question entered his head that he pondered over.

“Why just your eyes? What about this telepathy?” He asked.

“ _. . . It’s not very well known at all that we can do this. It wasn’t a strictly kept secret per say among the village, but we all kind of silently agreed it’d be best to keep it to ourselves and only tell others if we really, deeply trusted them. I don’t think Knoller has any idea about this._ ” She said, picking at her trousers.

Snufkin wondered over that a minute, imagining an entire village of people with telepathy and eyes that changed color sometimes.

It was a great distraction, he found. He wasn’t thinking about how badly he missed anyone or how awful this case was.

“You barely know me though. We’ve only just met,” Snufkin said, confused.

“ _I counted this as an emergency situation. That and you don’t seem like the kind of person to sell me out. You better not prove me wrong or I’ll hunt_ you _down_ ,” She said, somewhat darkly.

There was quite a long lull in the conversation. Snufkin thought about the village again, and about this brotherhood. He grimaced. They must be truly awful villains. Worse than Knoller even. Snufkin hoped to never run into them ever.

Then a bit later Jenny caught his eye again.

“ _Why are you here?_ ” She asked. “ _Knoller said he collected Rare creatures. What are you?_ ”

Snufkin took a minute to gather his thoughts. “I’m apparently a rare half breed,” He said a little bitterly. “Half Mumrik, half Mymble.”

“ _Really?_ ” She said, interest piqued. “ _I’ve met a Mumrik before, but never a Mymble. What are they like?_ ”

They went on talking for a while. First about Mymbles, then about each other's travels, and many different kinds of creatures they’d met.

It was a bit weird getting used to having to look directly at her the whole time. Snufkin wasn’t usually one to hold eye contact with people he was talking with, but in this situation, it was a necessity. 

They talked for a long time and Snufkin felt more relaxed than he had since he’d got kidnapped. Though, occasionally he still got a bit jittery and twitchy from the small space.

Over time though, Snufkin felt his social battery wearing down. He was getting very tired and needed some time to himself.

Before he could say something about this, something else happened. 

Snufkin heard footsteps above him and he froze, glancing up. They didn’t sound the same as the person who brought food. Could it be Knoller? 

The footsteps went past him towards Jenny’s case. Snufkin was getting worried.

“ _What is it? What’s wrong?_ ” She said when he looked at her again, sounding nervous.

Snufkin opened his mouth to reply, but then Jenny snapped her gaze up at her hatch. She sprang to her feet and Snufkin could see how tense she was.

A bundle of fabric dropped into her case. There was a pause and Snufkin guessed whoever was above her was talking.

Jenny cautiously picked it up and held it up to see it. It was a dress. Snufkin had never seen that style before in all his travels. He wondered if it was from very far away. Then he realized it went very well with the mural on the back wall of Jenny’s enclosure. 

Jenny dropped it suddenly, looking almost startled. She looked furious. It looked like she was yelling at whoever was above her, vehemently refusing to put it on.

Snuffkin’s breath caught in his throat, remembering what happened when he refused. He felt a sick, icy feeling in his gut. He couldn’t stand the thought of watching someone else be “ _trained_ ”.

Taking quick, shaky, nervous breaths, he got up and banged on the glass, trying to get her attention somehow.

She ended up glancing at him and seeing him trying to get her attention.

“ _What?_ ” She said, clearly nervous and worried about his expression.

“I-,” He tried in vain to keep his voice from shaking. “I thought I should warn you. They have these devices that shock you,” He said, absently rubbing his wrist where the imprint still was. Sick worry churned in his stomach and he started trembling a little, having difficulty holding her gaze. “They. . . They used them on me, and a few other things-,” Snufkin flexed his claws and shuddered. “- To _train_ me. .”

He was trying his hardest to keep his voice steady, to keep his fear from spilling out, not wanting to freak her out. It didn’t seem to work though as she looked _very_ freaked out.

“ _Train you? What do you mean_ train _you?_ ” She said, sounding aghast and horrified. 

Snufkin was getting very pale.

He tried to say something else, but her gaze snapped back up to the hatch. 

There was a pause. Maybe the person above her was talking again. 

She steeled herself stubbornly and started talking. Snufkin wished he could hear them.

It looked like it might be arguing though. She certainly still seemed to be refusing.

Snufkin wished he could get her attention again. Wished he could warn her better. He leaned shakily against the glass.

More arguing. Another pause.

Then Jenny froze and backed up.

Snufkin gasped when the two big creatures dropped into her cage. He spotted the little metal device in one of their hands and he stumbled backward, getting paler.

Jenny was backing up uncertainly.

Snufkin couldn’t watch. He sat behind his log with his back to them, gripping his hat and pulling it down over his face, taking ragged breaths.

He couldn’t stand this. He should have warned her better. This was all his fault.

He felt very guilty and awful, and his imagination was just making it worse. 

He had to stop thinking somehow. About the shocking device. About the threats. About the pain. About them putting Jenny or anyone else through all that. 

He stayed like that for ages. He had no way of knowing when the creatures would leave Jenny alone. 

So he just waited, feeling awful, hiding.

A long time later, the lights dimmed. Snufkin’s hatch opened and the bread dropped in.

His stomach grumbled a bit painfully, but he was too scared to move. Scared he’d end up glancing back and seeing them shock her.

He didn’t move until the lights went out. Then he slowly, carefully crawled over to where the bread was and ate it.

He was exhausted.

He curled up and fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Next time on "Rare Specimen"!_
> 
> Will Snorkmaiden's plan work? Will they finally find him?


	10. Undercover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snorkmaiden is given a tour

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ten chapters. Wow. I did not expect this to be this long.
> 
> Also, holy crap, this chapter in particular got _so_ long! I really didn't want to chop it in half though. I just had like three things I wanted to happen in it and those three things took _way_ more pages than I thought they would. 
> 
> Also, also, I made Art! Yesterday I was drawing and I decided to sketch Jenny how I imagined her. The art is at the bottom!

The next morning Snufkin woke up with the lights. He groaned, sat up slowly, and rubbed his eyes. He sat still for a bit. He was tired.

He looked over at Jenny. She was laying on the floor of her case, still asleep.

Snufkin stared at the ground, picking at the grass a little.

Before long he started feeling restless. Like yesterday. And the day before. And the one before that. . .

His eyes widened and he tried very hard not to think about it. He didn’t want another panic attack. He gripped the grass hard, trying to steady himself somehow.

In the end, he found himself pacing again.

Around and around and around. Over and over.

A while later more bread dropped.

He sat on the log to eat it.

He was still hungry after as usual. He sat a bit longer, staring off into space. His leg started bouncing. It was very fast. Almost violent even.

Time crawled by.

He felt the skin on his back prickling. He turned around and saw Jenny staring at him again.

She was sitting in her case near the glass, her legs crossed and her arm leaning on one knee, holding her chin up with her hand. The other held her own tiny loaf of bread that she was slowly picking away at.

_“Do you want to talk?”_ She asked when he finally looked her in the eye.

“. . Are you ok?” He asked nervously. She was wearing the dress from last night and looked grumpy about it.

“ _Yeah, I’m fine,_ ” She said, though he could detect some anger in her voice.

Neither talked for a moment as Jenny finished her bread. She picked at the cuff on her wrist, grumbling.

When it shocked her Snufkin actually flinched worse than her.

“I’m sorry. I should have warned you better,” He said shakily. “Maybe you could have avoided it.”

“ _What are you apologizing for?_ ” She raised an eyebrow at him incredulously. “ _This isn’t your fault. Did_ you _come in here and strap this on me?_ ”

“Well, no. . But maybe-”

“ _Maybe what? What could you have done to help? It was never up to you,_ ” She said. “ _You warned me well enough. What else could you have said?_ ”

“I. . I don’t know, but surely there’s _something_ I could have said,” He said before rubbing his face tiredly.

“ _Just stop it. It’s not like you could have convinced me to give in without a fight._ ”

Snufkin didn’t know what else to say to that, but somehow he felt just a little bit lighter.

They ended up chatting for a little while. Drifting around to different conversations.

Neither knew how much time had passed.

They had a little fun. It was severely dampened by their sucky situation, but it was nice distracting each other.

A couple of hours in, Snufkin felt his social battery draining and said he had to stop and take a moment for himself. He ended up explaining how he gets, and how he often goes out by himself for alone time to recharge and relax.

Jenny understood.

There wasn’t much she could do to give him privacy, but they refrained from staring at each other too much, just doing their own things, despite there being so little to do.

An hour passed.

Neither could really tell though since there was so little to tell the time.

Snufkin started getting really stir-crazy again. He was pacing around a ton, occasionally twitching, trying not to think of anyone he might miss or anywhere he’d rather be.

Sometimes he sat down again. Sometimes he drank from the little tiny pool. Then he’d be up again, pacing.

It was harder to feel alone. Harder to get the time he needed.

Jenny was doing her best, but she was also getting bored. Snufkin didn’t want to ask any more of her. It felt selfish.

It wasn’t like she could really give him privacy if she wanted. She had no way out, just like him.

They were stuck together.

Another hour passed.

Snufkin was still pacing mostly. Jenny was trying to get the owl-cat to look at her to see if she could talk with it.

Snufkin was thinking.

It was really hard not to think of the forest right then. The grass and the log and the campfire kept reminding him of the real outdoors.

He couldn’t remember going so long without going outside.

The longing and aching in his bones just got worse and worse.

The walls felt smaller.

Too soon he was having another panic attack.

He pressed against the wall, trying to stop it from shrinking, trying to take a deep breath.

Soon he was hyperventilating.

It was too small.

He was going to be crushed.

He couldn’t breathe.

The air was too stale, getting thinner and thinner.

He pressed harder against the wall, shaking.

He desperately needed to be somewhere else, to breathe fresh air.

He really truly felt like he was suffocating.

“ _Hey! Woah, what’s wrong?_ ” Jenny got his attention. She looked a little freaked out.

Snufkin focused on her. “I-” he gasped. It was difficult to get a word out. He still wasn’t getting enough air. “I might-”

“ _What is it?_ ” She asked worriedly.

Snufkin tried his best to calm down. This had happened too many times already. He barely managed to breathe enough to speak.

“I don’t do so well- In small spaces,” He managed to say between shaky breaths. It was a good distraction, focusing on her. “It’s too stale and I feel like I can’t breathe sometimes.”

“ _That’s. . . Concerning,_ ” She said, seeming to be at a loss for words. “ _Is there anything I can do to help?_ ”

Snufkin managed to slow his breathing a little. “Well right now you’re being a good distraction,” He said, offering a weak smile.

“ _Ok. Ok. . Did you know the Owl-Cat has finally talked to me? He’s kinda interesting,_ ” She said.

“I didn’t,” Snufkin chuckled a tiny bit nervously, focusing as hard as he could on what she was saying.

“ _He’s told me his name is Quinn. He likes fish a lot, but they mostly give him rodents,_ ” She said.

“Really? I fish all the time,” Snufkin said, though he was still pretty tense and pressed against the wall.

“ _Oh? Can’t say I’m a fan personally. I mean, it’s not awful, but I prefer other things._ ”

She continued trying to distract him until he could breathe and managed to stop pressing against the wall. Like usual though, the feeling of being suffocated never fully left.

He was sitting in the ground, just leaning on it, exhausted.

He dreaded the company that was coming tonight. They always left him worse for wear with all the staring and comments and songs.

“ _Do you think you have claustrophobia?_ ” Jenny asked a little while later.

Snufkin thought a minute. “I don’t know. I’ve never met anyone with it, so all I know about it is what some people have described.”

“ _Why would you need to meet someone with it to know?_ ”

“I don’t know. I think. . .” He looked up a minute, thinking. “I think it might be embarrassing to go around saying I have it and then find someone who really has it and find out I don’t. And, I’ve explored caves before and been relatively fine. . .”

“ _Ok,_ ” She said, trailing off.

They talked a little bit more, now even including the Owl-Cat a little, though it was awkward and a bit time consuming needing Jenny to translate between them. The Owl-Cat didn’t have much to say though anyway, preferring to do his own thing.

That night guests came, and Snufkin decided to try a new strategy to be boring. He laid down and put his hat over his face and pretended to be asleep.

Maybe with some luck, he could actually fall asleep and have some semblance of peace.

So far it seemed to be working. A few guests were banging on the glass, but he ignored them, trying to steady his breathing to help with the act.

……….

Snorkmaiden was riding in a carriage with Knollermaiden sitting across from her.

The day had finally come and Snorkmaiden was buzzing with nerves, but she managed to keep a calm exterior.

Outside it was nearing evening. They were riding to Knoller’s house.

Moomintroll had wanted really badly to come with her. He wanted to help more, desperate to find his best friend, but they all knew Knoller would recognize him even better than most of the others since Knoller had stayed in Moominhouse.

Knollermaiden was chatting away, wondering what her uncle had brought home for his collection this time. She still gave no hints about what the collection might be though.

It was a bit nerve-wracking.

Snorkmaiden was going through possible plans in her head. She’d spent the last few days waiting trying to come up with good plausible excuses to go off on her own in Knoller’s house to search for Snufkin. She also came up with possible explanations if any guards got suspicious of her or caught her looking somewhere she shouldn’t.

Moomintroll and Little My had helped brainstorm. They added plenty of good suggestions.

Snorkmaiden wondered if Joxter and Little My were going to scope out the house again. Moominpappa had tried to convince them not to go tonight, but Snorkmaiden had a feeling they weren’t going to heed his words.

Finally, they got to Knoller’s house and got out of the carriage.

Snorkmaiden glanced around. She had never gotten this close before.

There were two guards by the front door who let them pass. Knollermaiden greeted them briefly with a smile as she went inside.

“Ah, Ms. Knollermaiden. Your uncle is in the parlor with a few other guests. There’s only two more arriving tonight,” A butler said, greeting them.

“Thank you. We’ll be on our way then,” Knollermaiden said brightly. She gestured for Snorkmaiden to follow her through the grand house.

It was much richer than Knollermaiden’s house. Knoller had a very different style than his niece, who had many light-colored, delicate things.

Knoller’s mansion had lots of dark rich woods, deep red curtains, thick, expensive looking decorations placed around artfully.

They passed a dining room where someone was lounging in a chair, snacking on something.

“Hi Gib. Are you coming down tonight?” Knollermaiden said as they passed. Gib just nodded with a grin, grabbing more of his snack.

“Gib is a family friend. He doesn’t talk much, though he really likes Uncle’s collection and often helps him get more pieces of it,” Knollermaiden explained as they passed.

They got to the parlor where Knoller was lounging sophisticatedly on a fine, leather couch, entertaining guests with a big grin.

There were maybe half a dozen or so people there, all looking as rich and sophisticated as Knoller himself.

“Ah, Knollermaiden,” Knoller said with a smile when he spotted his niece, standing up to greet her with a brief hug. “Is this the new friend you spoke to me about?” He said, giving Snorkmaiden a look over.

Snorkmaiden fought to stay relaxed and not freeze up at his scrutiny. She would not mess this up.

“Yes, this is Snorkmaiden,” Knollermaiden introduced her. “Snorkmaiden, this is my uncle Knoller.”

“Pleasure to meet you,” Snorkmaiden said, trying to sound sweet and not grit her teeth.

Knoller shook her paw. “Of course. You be good to my favorite niece, you hear?” He said with a playful scowl.

“Uncle, I’m your _only_ niece,” Knollermaiden laughed.

“Yes, yes. A minute please Knollermaiden,” Knoller gestured to the door. The two of them stepped out into the hallway and closed the door.

Snorkmaiden looked around the room at the other guests. They were talking amongst themselves.

She decided not to bother trying to socialize with them, instead taking a little step towards the door, trying to see if she could hear Knoller and Knollermaiden’s conversation.

It was too muffled. She couldn’t make out the words.

Snorkmaiden stepped away from the door before they came back to make sure she didn’t look suspicious.

Knollermaiden rejoined her and started talking excitedly about how much fun they were going to have.

Knoller gave Snorkmaiden a look. It was a very brief look that said _I’m not sure I trust you so I’m keeping an eye on you._

Snorkmaiden was a bit worried. What had she done wrong? He _couldn’t_ recognize her. . .

Knoller rejoined the other guests and made a joke that got most of them laughing. He was back to being light-hearted.

Knollermaiden was now talking about maybe going into the gardens when they were done looking at Knoller’s collection.

Snorkmaiden smiled and agreed.

They stayed and chatted for a bit. Snorkmaiden was looking for an opportunity to use one of her excuses to leave and search the house, when the rest of the guests arrived and Knoller got up, announcing that it was time to go to the museum to see his newest collection piece.

_Alright,_  
Snorkmaiden thought to herself.  
_It’s ok. I can still do this. I’ll find an opportunity when we’re there. ._

“Now, most of you have heard this quite enough already, but I’ll go ahead and stress again. There _will_ be consequences if any single one of you reveal the nature of my collection to _anyone_ ,” Knoller said, suddenly getting very dark at the end, sending chills down Snorkmaiden’s spine. He seemed to glance right at her as he said it.

Just what kind of a collection _was_ this?

Most of the guests just told Knoller to get on with it and lead the way.

Knoller led them outside down the hall, towards a spot very thick with guards.

Someplace Joxter and Little My probably never got a chance to search, Snorkmaiden noted.

She tried to just look curious as she glanced around.

Knoller led them to an unlit fireplace. He pulled down on a candelabra and Snorkmaiden gasped when the fireplace retracted, sliding out of the way to reveal a strange wooden platform.

“I know right? An actual elevator, in a _house_ ,” Knollermaiden said excitedly when she noticed Snorkmaiden’s bewilderment.

“That’s. . . Wow,” Snorkmaiden was at a loss for words.

Gib walked in, joining the group as they all got on the platform and Snorkmaiden followed. She’d heard of elevators before but had never seen one till now.

It felt weird, and ever so slightly terrifying as the rope contraption slowly lowered them down.

When they got to the bottom it really did look like a museum. Most everything was marble or stone. It looked very grand, with artful pillars on the sides and an arch up ahead that led to the actual collection.

The arch said in fancy letters “Knoller’s Museum of Curious Creatures”

_Creatures?_

Snorkmaiden was a bit confused. She started getting a bad feeling.

Most of the guests were following Knoller. Snorkmaiden was about to follow when Knollermaiden grabbed her arm.

“They’re going straight to the new section, but you’ve never been here before so I’m going to give you a proper tour,” the girl grinned, leading Snorkmaiden off in the other direction.

Snorkmaiden was soon very glad there weren’t so many people around because it was very hard to keep her expression neutral as they went.

She grew more horrified the further they got.

So many real live creatures, trapped in _display cases_. And at the same time, it was horribly fascinating seeing so many creatures she’d only heard of in legend and such.

So many of these creatures looked miserable. Some were scared, some looked incredibly bored.

They came up to a case of fairies. Snorkmaiden strained to put on a politely fascinated face when Knollermaiden looked back at her.

“Aren’t they beautiful?” Knollermaiden said in awe, gesturing at the fairies.

Snorkmaiden struggled to find something to say. “I. . I’ve never seen fairies before, wow.”

“Not many people have,” Knollermaiden breathed. “They’re really nice actually. Sometimes they sing for us.”

Knollermaiden slid open a little hatch on the side of the fairies’ display case that had tiny sound holes.

“May we have a song please?” Knollermaiden asked gently, smiling at them.

The fairies’ song was quiet, and their voices tinkled mysteriously in a very beautiful way.

They finished and Knollermaiden clapped happily. Snorkmaiden joined in hesitantly.

“That was lovely,” Knollermaiden praised. The fairies flitted off shyly to a tiny tree that was in their case. They sat on the branches and flew around.

They kept going through the museum, seeing countless amazing things. Snorkmaiden just felt worse and worse the farther they went.

This was messed up.

A few more creatures put on mini performances for them. Some of them looked very uncomfortable doing so.

There were a few times Knollermaiden asked a creature to do something and the creature shyly refused and Knollermaiden just shrugged and said maybe next time. Every time that happened the creature in question looked extremely relieved

They got to this one part with lots of sea creatures.

They saw mermaids and seahorses that Knollermaiden waved at.

Snorkmaiden spotted something that made her scream a tiny bit. There was a normal-looking boy trapped in a water tank with a shark.

“Wait, don’t worry, he’s ok. That’s just the shapeshifter,” Knollermaiden said, calming her down.

“Shapeshifter?” Snorkmaiden said.

“Yes, the boy is friends with him, don’t worry,” Knollermaiden chuckled a little.

Snorkmaiden stared agape at the case as they approached and she realized something very wrong.

“Why’s he stuck in the water tank? Won’t he die?” She said aghast.

Knollermaiden pointed at the plaque grinning.

Snorkmaiden read it.

“The mysterious boy who never drowns?” She read slowly.

Said boy was staring at them boredly, resting his chin on his hand.

“Hello,” Knollermaiden greeted the boy and the shark brightly.

The boy waved back stiffly, still looking bored. The shark swam around him slowly.

Snormkaiden wondered if he could even hear them through the thick glass.

“Would you please show my friend here what you can do?” Knollermaiden asked.

The boy raised an eyebrow at her.

“Please?” Knollermaiden asked sweetly.

The bow gave her a flat look.

“I’ll make you guys fish patties tomorrow,” Knollermaiden said.

The boy looked slightly amused for a second. He then looked at the shark. He and the shark stared at each other for a bit, and occasionally their expressions changed slightly.

Snorkmaiden wondered if they were communicating somehow.

The boy looked back at Knollermaiden and held up two fingers.

“ _Two_ dozen? Hmm,” Knollermaiden mused. “Ok fine.” She nodded.

The boy smiled, almost smugly. He seemed to talk to the shapeshifter again. Relaying good news.

The shapeshifter looked a little happy. It swam over and looked at Snorkmaiden for a second.

Then it changed. Into an octopus first, then after swimming around a bit, it turned into an otter. Then a little bit later a manta ray. There was always a bit of a pause before each change.

It turned into a few other things before settling into an octopus again. It seemed to be done. It grabbed a deck of plastic-coated playing cards out of the boy’s pocket and tossed it at the boy.

The boy gave the shapeshifter a look that said _now? Really?_

The octopus moved a bit as it seemed to speak to the boy.

The boy sighed and grabbed the cards and started shuffling them.

“Wow,” Snorkmaiden murmured absently.

“I know, amazing right?” Knollermaiden said, grabbing her arm to lead her to the next exhibit.

Before they left though, two of Knoller’s other guests wandered in to look at the shapeshifter.

The boy groaned and looked very annoyed at them.

Some of them knocked on the glass, demanding much more rudely to see the shapeshifter change.

One of them threatened to go get Knoller when they ignored them.

The boy glared at them. The shapeshifter briefly turned into a shrimp before immediately turning into an octopus again and picking up some of the cards.

Snorkmaiden stared after them as she was led away. The rude guests didn’t look satisfied.

“Let’s go see the new one now,” Knollermaiden said excitedly, going around through a few open areas. Snorkmaiden could hear most of the other guests not too far away.

They turned a corner into a wide-open circular room with one big case in the middle and about five or six cases built into the walls.

A few of the cases were empty, though there was a gathering of people flocking around one of the side ones.

Knollermaiden took Snorkmaiden’s hand and pushed through the crowd a little until they could both see into the case.

There was a girl inside with long, curly, bright red hair, sitting on a little tree stump near the back of her case.

She looked mad, glaring at the people ogling her.

“Woah, what is she?” Knollermaiden asked curiously.

Someone started reading the plaque. Snorkmaiden wasn’t paying attention. She was focusing on her act and suppressing all the terrible, horrifying thoughts on her mind. There were too many people around. She had to pretend everything was fine. She could not mess this up.

The people around made comments sometimes about this new girl.

Then one of them said they should hear a song. He turned around and went over to the case in the center of the room.

Snorkmaiden stared after him a bit before she froze. Her heart nearly stopped.

There was _Snufkin!_

She hadn’t spotted him before because he was laying down, but there was no doubt about it. She stared in a stupor at the Mumrik, lying on the ground with his hat over his face. His chest rose and fell slowly. It looked like he was sleeping.

Snorkmaiden didn’t know what to do. She thought she really should have put the two and two together before now. He was down here. In this _collection._

The man who’d walked up to Snufkin’s case rapped on the glass with his knuckles and then opened up a little flap that revealed sound holes.

“Hey! Hey you, wake up,” the man said impatiently. Snufkin didn’t move a muscle.

Knollermaiden noticed Snorkmaiden staring at Snufkin.

“That’s Snufkin the Wanderer. He’s half Mumrik, half Mymble,” Knollermaiden said, grabbing Snorkmaiden’s hand and leading her over. “A very especially rare half breed I think. He looks more settled in than the last time I saw him,” she mused.

Snorkmaiden glanced at Knollermaiden, feeling a hot anger forming that she managed to keep inside.

Snorkmaiden really had wished Knollermaiden was ignorant of the kidnapping. It seemed not only was she fully aware of it, but she was completely ok with her uncle imprisoning tons of different creatures in this bizarre, horrible museum.

It had taken this moment in front of Snufkin to fully get that through her head.

“Come on, wake up already,” the man said, rapping on the glass already.

Two more people came over. They wanted a song too.

They continued trying to wake him up for a bit.

Snorkmaiden didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t blow her cover by trying to get them to stop. It felt really weird and wrong though.

Finally, one of the guests went looking for Knoller.

They all waited around a bit awkwardly. It was a little while before the guy came back with Knoller.

Knoller chuckled a little bit at the sleeping Snufkin. Then he leaned down to the soundhole.

“Wake up boy!” He said, not even actually louder than the others had been, but it seemed to startle Snufkin awake.

Snorkmaiden backed up a bit. If Snufkin spotted her he might accidentally blow her cover and she wouldn’t have a chance to save him.

Snufkin groaned and sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes.

Knoller grinned. “We got company boy. They want a performance.”

Snufkin glared tiredly at them.

Snorkmaiden hated having to see him like this. He sighed and sat down on the log that was in his case. He pulled out his harmonica, tapping it absently as he thought of a song.

Snorkmaiden was kind of shocked that he had his harmonica out at all. He never would have just played for people demanding it.

A minute later he played a song. It was short. Almost sloppy. Snorkmaiden was even more surprised by this. Then she realized it was probably sloppy on purpose. He obviously didn’t want to play for them.

He finished and shoved his harmonica back in his pocket. Then he rested his chin on his paw and stared boredly at the ground.

Most of the guests weren’t satisfied with the sloppy song. Knollermaiden was the only one who complimented it.

Snorkmaiden just kept staring. She noticed how stiff Snufkin was. How every once in a while he seemed to twitch.

She realized how long he’d gone without being outside. Over a week already probably. Maybe longer. He probably hated it in there.

“You really need to train him better, Knoller. Make him a better musician,” one lady said.

Snorkmaiden saw Snufkin stiffen a lot.

“Maybe you should just give him something to learn?” Knollermaiden suggested.

Knoller rubbed his chin a minute. “There was this one song he played the other day that was nice. Hey boy,” He called through the sound holes. “Play that song you played yesterday when we brought the girl around.”

Snufkin glared lazily at him. “Sorry?”

“The song you played yesterday.”

“The beach one?” Snufkin said deadpan.

“No. It was a springy one. Just a tiny bit sad maybe. . You played it just last night,” Knoller said.

“Sorry, I don’t remember,” Snufkin said, still deadpan, going back to staring lazily at the ground.

“Come on. You’ve got to play better songs boy, try and remember it,” Knoller said.

“I already played you a song,” Snufkin grumbled.

“We arranged that you would play when someone asked. There was never exactly a limit set,” Knoller said.

“Well, it’s not like I can remember it anyway so it doesn’t matter,” Snufkin muttered.

“Boy, you gotta play better songs. Surely you can think of something. Or do I need to refresh your memory with more training?”

Snufkin froze up. Snorkmaiden’s skin bristled thinking of what those words mean.

“Or maybe I’ll just take the harmonica away and have you sing for us. Wouldn’t that be fun?” Knoller chuckled almost cruelly.

Snufkin looked like he was about to panic, then he seemed to think of something clever.

“Actually, I can sing. I’ve got the perfect song already,” Snufkin smirked. What he then belted out nearly made Snorkmaiden burst out laughing.

♩ _“This is the song that never eeeeennnndddds, and it goes on and on my frieeeeennndddsss. Some people, started singing it not knowing what it was, and they’ll continue singing it forever just because this is the song that never eeeeennnndddds, and it goes on and on my frieeeeennndddsss. Some people, started singing it-”_ ♩

Snufkin kept singing as Snorkmaiden tried to hold in her laughter. Most of the other guests looked uncomfortable or annoyed.

♩ _“-never eeeeennnndddds, and it goes on and on my frieeeeennndddsss. Some people, started singing it not knowing what it was, and they’ll continue singing it forever just because this is-”_ ♩

“That is a dreadful song,” someone muttered.

Knollermaiden chuckled with Snorkmaiden. Knoller seemed to be at a loss for words.

♩ _“-that never eeeeennnndddds, and it goes on and on my frieeeeennndddsss. Some people, started singing it not knowing what it was, and they’ll continue singing it forever just because this is the song that never eeeeennnndddds, and it goes on and on-”_ ♩

Snufkin grinned mischievously as he belted it out as loud as he could.

“Well. This isn’t worth it. I’m going to look at something else,” someone said, walking off in an awkward huff.

Snufkin had a hard time not laughing as he sang. He went on and on for a while and more people ended up leaving.

Someone asked Knoller to make him stop, but Snufkin burst into a fit of laughter and had to stop on his own. He had his hat tilted down as he chuckled so they couldn’t fully see his face.

Knoller finally got his wits about him. “Well. I guess if you can’t think of any good songs I’ll have to teach you somehow. It’s doable. You can expect more training in the near future.”

Snufkin frowned, stiffening up, but Snorkmaiden couldn’t see the rest of his expression.

Everyone decided to go look at something else and Snorkmaiden followed them for now.

She knew she had to think of a plan to get him out, but her brain felt very frazzled.

She followed Knollermaiden through the museum, not really paying attention to what she was looking at.

She didn’t remember seeing a door in Snufkin’s case. Or any of the cases for that matter. That was kind of concerning.

Maybe if she could just get Snufkin alone she could ask him how they got him in. Then she could come up with a plan.

She nodded, steeling herself up. That was the new plan.

So at the first opportunity, she used one of her practiced excuses to go off by herself.

She tried not to rush back to Snufkin’s case. She didn’t want to be too suspicious in case anyone was lurking around.

So she meandered back in his direction, not taking too long though.

He was sitting on his log, his hat down. He hadn’t seen her yet.

Snorkmaiden walked up to the sound flap and opened it.

“Snufkin, it’s me! Don’t freak out and don’t be too loud though,” she said urgently, but quietly.

His head snapped up suddenly and he gaped at her.

“ _Snorkmaiden?_ ” He breathed, gasping.

“Yes, it’s me, but be careful, I’m undercover,” She said, glancing around. The coast was still clear.

Snufkin scrambled over to the glass where she was.

“ _How?_ What are you doing here?” He asked, his voice cracking. “Oh my gosh. .” He whispered, rubbed his face. His breathing was quickening.

“I just told you silly, I’m undercover,” She said.

“You’re really here,” he trembled, a shaky smile forming. “Is anyone else here?”

“We’ve set up a camp a little ways away,” she said.

“Who?”

“Moomintroll, Moominpappa, Moominmamma, your Dad, Little My, even Sniff though he’s been useless so far. The inspector’s out somewhere hopefully doing something useful,” Snorkmaiden muttered that last part. He’d taken so long already. She wondered if he forgot what he was doing entirely.

“Oh my gosh, _oh my gosh_ ,” he breathed, one paw pressed against the glass near her, the other covering his face while he trembled. Snorkmaiden realized with a start that he was crying.

“You- you came. You’re all here,” He said, choking back a sob.

“What? Of course we did dummy, you think we’d leave you in the hands of this monster?” Snorkmaiden said.

His shoulders shook harder. He took a wheezy breath.

“Is my dad ok?” he asked suddenly, looking up and staring at her intensely.

“Yes, he’s ok. He’s furious at Knoller though. He’s been searching for you nonstop with Little My, sneaking in here and avoiding guards, but I’ve been the first one to find you.”

Snufkin smiled weakly and covered his face again. He sobbed a little, as quietly as he could.

The way he was shaking made Snorkmaiden really scared to ask what had happened while he was here.

“Hey, I need you to focus a minute. How did they get you in there? How do I get you out?” Snorkmaiden asked, focusing.

“There’s- a hatch,” He said between deep shaky breaths, pointing up at the ceiling without looking up.

Snorkmaiden looked up and spotted it.

“There should be a faculty door somewhere in that direction,” he pointed down the hall, voice cracking a little though he seemed to be calming down. “It goes upstairs to a room where you can reach all the hatches. There might be a rope ladder somewhere.”

Snufkin suddenly glanced up to his right.

Snorkmaiden followed his gaze and saw he was staring at the red-headed girl. Said girl was standing by the glass of her case, hands pressed against it, staring at them intently.

“. . We can’t just leave everyone else here,” Snufkin said, staring at the girl.

Snorkmaiden started getting worried. She understood. She didn’t want to just say no, these other creatures were clearly unhappy here too.

The problem was, it would be extremely more difficult saving everyone in this collection than it would be to just whisk Snufkin away.

Snufkin went and stared at the Owl-cat on his other side too, gaze hardening in determination.

“I can’t abandon them. It’s torture being stuck in here,” he shivered. “We need to come up with a plan.”

“I might not have that long here,” Snorkmaiden warned. “Someone could come and spot us.”

Snufkin pursed his lips.

“Don’t stress too much. The others will be able to help plan too once I fill them in. Just tell me everything you know about this place and we’ll figure it out,” Snorkmaiden said, putting her paw against the glass over his.

He took a deep breath. “Ok.”

There wasn’t much else to tell. He’d spent the majority of his time stuck in this awful case. There was one other room he’d seen at least though.

“I’m sure we can make allies of the other prisoners too,” Snufkin said, looking back up at the redhead girl.

He paused staring straight at the girl’s eyes. A few seconds of silence passed.

“This is my friend, we have help,” Snufkin said, determinedly.

The girl looked sort of bewildered and confused, but also very relieved.

“Don’t worry, I’ll fill you in later. She doesn’t have a lot of time here,” Snufkin said a minute later, still staring at the girl.

“Uh, Snufkin?” Snorkmaiden said, confused.

“What?” Snufkin said. “Oh, sorry. That’s Jenny. I made a friend here,” he said with a smile. The most calm, genuine smile she’d seen on him that whole day.

“Can she hear you?” Snorkmaiden asked, still confused.

“Yes. But don’t worry about it. It’s kind of a secret,” Snufkin said very seriously.

“Ok. .” Snorkmaiden said, raising an eyebrow at him. She froze when she heard footsteps approaching. “Quick, play a song or something,” she whispered urgently, stepping back a bit.

Snufkin jumped up, realizing what she meant. He sat on the log, pulled out his harmonica, and started playing the first song that came to his head.

Knollermaiden came by, glancing around till she spotted Snorkmaiden.

“Oh there you are,” she said with a smile. “I think it’s time to go now. Want to check out the gardens?” She asked, joining Snorkmaiden by Snufkin’s case. “Wait a minute, I think I know that song,” she said excitedly. “What was it called? Something to do with bows?”

“I don’t know. Is it really time to go already? It’s very interesting here,” Snorkmaiden said.

“Yeah, it’s time,” Knollermaiden sighed. “It’s getting really late. Uncle is rounding everyone up now. He says he’s tired.”

That didn’t sound like something Snorkmaiden could argue against. She gave Snufkin one last long look. She tried to convey through her eyes for him not to worry, that she’d be back with the others and they’d get him and as many others as they could out.

Snufkin was staring back, a guarded, blank expression. He nodded ever so slightly when Knollermaiden wasn’t looking.

“Alright then,” Snorkmaiden said, taking Knollermaiden’s arm and they left together.

Snorkmaiden would have a lot to tell the others that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to Nmtltlz! You have commented _so_ much on this and it seriously makes me so happy! I really look forward to finding them! Thank you so much!!! Agh!


	11. The Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snorkmaiden fills in the rest of the group on the situation, and they come up with a plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A chapter without Snufkin in it? Wow, I haven't had one of those since like chapter three I think.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

Moomintroll was idly stoking the fire back at camp. He’d been put in charge of managing fire while Moominmamma cut up carrots to add to the stew. 

Moominpappa was in the tent doing who knows what. Sniff was helping Moominmamma. Little My was occasionally sneaking carrots.

Joxter was up in his tree, staring in the direction of Knoller’s mansion. His tail was swinging about impatiently below him.

Moomintroll got how he felt. He huffed a little impatiently. He couldn’t get Snufkin off his mind no matter how hard he tried. Couldn’t stop thinking of what terrible things could be happening to him while they all sat around waiting.

Moomintroll was sick of waiting. 

He sagged a little. He was less angry and more gloomy. He hadn’t been able to stop worrying all week now. When they’d originally set out on this rescue mission he thought they would get there and then get in and out real quick with Snufkin. Instead, it was being dragged out super long because Knoller had too many guards. That and he’d hidden Snufkin so well Joxter and Little My hadn’t been able to find him even after days of sneaking around and searching for him.

Joxter and Little My were both very grumpy about this. Everyone was very careful about not setting them off because it was very easy to do so. The two of them seemed to be just barely managing not to snap and yell at their friends by focusing their anger in one specific direction.

Knoller.

Moomintroll glared at the fire just thinking about him.

Then his ears picked up the faint sound of grass rustling. He stood up and looked in the direction of Knoller’s mansion, straining to hear.

It was probably Snorkmaiden. She was due to be back any minute now.

Moomintroll noticed Joxter sitting up in his tree, staring into the night in the same direction. 

Finally, Snorkmaiden walked into view. Moomintroll was buzzing with nerves, wanting to hear if she’d found him.

Joxter jumped down from his tree right near her. He stared intensely at her face for a second before going slack.

“You found him,” Joxter breathed, jaw hanging open.

“What?” Moomintroll and Snorkmaiden said simultaneously.

“How did you-” Snorkmaiden started.

“Where is he?” Joxter grabbed her shoulders. “Where?” His voice was strained, almost desperate.

“Wait what? You found him?” Little My ran over gasping.

“What’s this? You found him?” Moominmamma said, sounding extremely relieved. 

“Huh?” Sniff said, looking up from the potatoes he was helping prepare.

Moominpappa came out saying about the same things as everyone else. They all talked over each other, exclaiming joy and hope, a little confusion, some desperation.

Snorkmaiden pushed Joxter off of her. “Everyone calm down, let me explain. It’s gotten all complicated,” she said.

Everyone deflated a bit at that, getting worried. 

“Alright then. Everyone come sit down. We’ll finish this stew and Snorkmaiden can tell us everything that happened from the beginning,” Moominmamma said, taking charge and shuffling everyone off around the campfire.

They all hurried to get settled around, anxious to hear what happened and where Snufkin was.

Moominmamma put the rest of the carrots and the potatoes in the stew pot and started stirring it.

Joxter was bouncing his knee frantically, staring at Snorkmaiden.

Moomintroll sat next to her and waited anxiously with bated breath.

Little My stood on Snorkmaiden’s other side, tapping her foot rather quickly while Moominmamma finished up the stew.

By the time it was finished everyone was on their last nerve even though it had been much shorter than it felt. They passed out bowls and Snorkmaiden thought a minute where to start.

“So turns out, we have a _lot_ more people to save than just Snufkin,” she sighed a little.

“ _What?_ ” A few people said simultaneously. Joxter’s leg stopped bouncing abruptly.

“I’ve found out where he’s keeping Snufkin and what he wanted him for,” Snorkmaiden said, hardening her gaze stubbornly. 

She went on to explain what she’d seen in Knoller’s Museum of Curious Creatures. 

Moomintroll stared slack-jawed at her, horrified at her descriptions of all the creatures stuck in little display cases. She got to the part where she found Snufkin and Moomintroll was glad he was sitting down.

He felt weirdly jittery and weak at the knees imagining Snufkin locked up in a _display_ case of all things. Snufkin would absolutely hate something like that. No, he’d Despise it!

Being stuck in a small space with people staring at you and judging you? 

Moomintroll shuddered, feeling sick to his stomach as he stared, blank-faced at his stew.

“I found a moment to be alone with Snufkin and talk to him,” Snorkmaiden said, starting to sound distant. Maybe she was getting lost in thought. .

“He. . He was very relieved to see me and hear you were all so close,” Snorkmaiden said. “And he told me there was a faculty door we could go through that leads to a room where we could reach the hatch leading out of his case. But he also said he couldn’t abandon the other creatures. We need to get as many as we can out,” Snorkmaiden looked up at all of them as she said that.

Moomintroll smiled to himself. Of course, Snufkin wasn’t going to just leave behind the other prisoners. He was so noble, and brave, and-

He shook his head, blushing. He couldn’t get so carried away. They had a job to do.

“You’re leaving something out,” Joxter said, staring intensely, his eyes narrowed.

“What?” Snorkmaiden said, looking a bit concerned.

“I can see it in your face. Something happened didn’t it? You have to tell us,” Joxter said, eyes wide and body tensed like a spring ready to jump at her any second.

Snorkmaiden seemed to know she had to say something now or he wouldn’t leave her alone. Joxter grew more apprehensive as she stalled.

“It’s nothing really,” She said nervously. “It’s just. . .” She searched for the words and groaned frustratedly when she couldn’t figure it out quickly enough.   
“. . . He just got kind of emotional when he realized we’d come to save him. And you know how he is, he wouldn’t want me detailing exactly how he was and he probably doesn’t want all the pity,” She said very hesitantly. 

There was silence in the clearing. If it weren’t for the fire crackling and some bugs chirping you probably could have heard a pin drop as everyone processed that.

Moomintroll sighed quietly. That was so like Snufkin. Not wanting everyone to worry about him too much. And boy, that was the opposite of what was happening.

Everyone seemed to be thinking, worrying, wondering what could have happened that made Snufkin “emotional”, and also just how emotional “emotional” meant.

And Snorkmaiden still looked like maybe she wasn’t telling them everything. Though Joxter wasn’t looking at her anymore, instead staring blankly at the ground.

Finally, Moominpappa cleared his throat.

“Let’s focus on making a plan. How many creatures are there?” Moominpappa asked, resolutely. 

“Um. . A lot,” Snorkmaiden said, rubbing her neck. She started counting under her breath, staring into space with a concentrated look on her face. “Uhhhh. . . . Less than forty.”

“ _Forty?!_ ” Joxter and Moominpappa said simultaneously, aghast.

“ _Less_ than forty,” Snorkmaiden repeated, scowling a little. “Maybe less than thirty, but I’m not sure.”

“Well. That’s about as many guards there are. Once we get them all out maybe we won’t have to sneak and we can just fight our way out,” Joxter said. 

“I think not fighting at all would be more ideal,” Moominpappa said, raising an eyebrow at Joxter.

Joxter was about to make a retort, but Snorkmaiden beat him to it. 

“Not all of them will be able to help. Some of them are much smaller, and I bet none of them have been able to exercise well,” She said. “Plus there’s a few that might need to be carried if we don’t want to leave them behind, like the mermaids.”

“Mermaids?” A few of them gasped. 

“I don’t think we’ll be able to completely avoid the guards though. There’s just too many people to get out,” Little My said.

“Plus, you said there were guards concentrated around that fireplace. How are we going to sneak down to them in the first place?” Moomintroll said.

“This is quite the puzzle,” Moominmamma murmured, brows creased. She started collecting everyone’s bowls as just about everyone was finished eating. 

They brainstormed for a while. There was a bit of arguing too. Plenty of suggestions, plenty of musings, plenty of hypotheses. Everyone seemed to get very frustrated as the night got later and later.

It was Moomintroll who finally got a few great ideas.

“What if Snorkmaiden goes undercover again, but she sneaks Little My in with her?” He said. “And then maybe we can get a few of the guards out of the way with a good distraction. We could set the garden house on fire or something. Then Little My can look for a way to sneak the rest of us downstairs, but if she can’t then she’ll go ahead and start getting all the creatures out of their cases. Then we’ll distract the rest of the guards while she and Snufkin lead them all out,” Moomintroll said, determinedly. 

“Moomintroll, that’s brilliant,” Snorkmaiden smiled, patting his hand. Moomintroll rubbed the back of his neck.

“Sounds like it might work,” Joxter said, rolling his shoulder. 

“Set the garden house on fire? A little extreme maybe, but it might be necessary,” Moominpappa rubbed his chin, thinking. 

“So who’s setting the fire anyway? I’d be happy to, but I’ve got more important places to be and I don’t think any of you could do _my_ job,” Little My grinned, putting her hands on her hips. 

Everyone looked at Joxter. He was usually down for a little arson.

“I’m staying near the fireplace. I’m getting down there if the chance arises,” Joxter said, crossing his arms stubbornly. 

They glanced among themselves.

“. . I guess I could do it,” Sniff spoke up uncertainly. “I haven’t done much yet. I don’t want to be useless.”

Moomintroll looked thoughtfully at him. 

“That’s very brave of you dear, I know you can do it,” Moominmamma said encouragingly, patting Sniff’s shoulder. “Moominpappa and I can be ready for the second distraction. We’ll lead as many guards as we can away so you have a chance to get downstairs.”

“Alright. I suppose we can do that,” Moominpappa said. Meanwhile, Sniff smiled sheepishly.

“What are you going to do Moomintroll?” Snorkmaiden asked. 

Moomintroll thought for a minute. Everyone else seemed to have their part. 

“. . . Knollor could have something tricky up his sleeve. I should try and keep an eye on him and distract him if I need to.” Moomintroll thought a bit more as the others nodded and murmured to themselves.   
“We’ll have to do this on a night Knoller has guests over. Thankfully that’s been often. . Anyway, we’ll start the plan after they’ve all left so there are less people, though that means Snorkmaiden will probably have to go back upstairs. So if that happens Snorkmaiden, you should try and stick with Joxter. Get back down if you can to help get the creatures out of the cases,” Moomintroll said.

“Ok,” Snorkmaiden said. 

“Sounds like it’s all coming together,” Little My said with a wicked grin.

………. 

Snorkmaiden knocked on Knollermaiden’s door and put her hands behind her back while she waited.

It was the next morning. Everyone was eager to start on the plan as soon as possible.

Snorkmaiden was practically buzzing with nerves and anticipation.

Finally, the maid Ann answered the door.

“Oh, Ms. Snorkmaiden. Please wait here and I’ll tell Knollermaiden you’re here,” Ann said cordially.

Ann left, but it wasn’t a very long wait before Knollermaiden practically skipped into the foyer, Ann trailing behind.

“Snorkmaiden! This is a nice surprise,” Knollermaiden greeted. 

Snorkmaiden was a bit stiffer than she’d been the day before, still mad about Knollermaiden being in on the collection, but she put on a nice smile and greeted the girl as kindly as she could.

“I remembered that you were going to make fish cakes for those two creatures in the museum today and wondered if you’d like a helping hand,” Snorkmaiden said.

Knollermaiden glanced around, actually looking serious for a moment. 

“Uncle doesn’t want anyone talking about the collection outside of it,” She said in a hushed, almost alarmed voice. “He says it’s a very serious matter.” 

Snorkmaiden frowned a bit worriedly, starting to get chills. She’d never seen Knollermaiden this serious before.

“It’s ok though. Just don’t mention it unless we go down there. Anyway, I think the help would be very nice, and I’m sure we can have lots of fun,” Knollermaiden brightened up and went back to her usual cheery self.

Snorkmaiden felt chills run down her spine from the sudden change in demeanor, but she disguised it well enough.

Knollermaiden grabbed Snorkmaiden’s hand and led her cheerfully to a very nice kitchen. 

It had a lot of white woods in it, with some flowers here and there. There were quite a lot of windows and one great big window that made the whole place very bright and sunny, and there were light pink and green accents around. The counters were also nice and big, with plenty of room for baking and cooking.

Knollermaiden got out a recipe book and put it on a little stand, though it turned out Knollermaiden had the recipe mostly memorized and they barely had to consult it.

“Olma taught me to bake when I was a kid. She was my parents' maid you know,” Knollermaiden said as they went. She had a bit of flour on her face and was happily mashing up a bunch of ingredients in the bowl

“She taught me all sorts of things and I learned how much I loved it. Almost as much as gardening actually. When Papa found out he wasn’t very happy though. . .” She trailed off, seeming to get lost in thought. 

“After Mama and Papa died, Olma was very sad and wanted to leave. So I let her go. . . I hope she’s happy wherever she is now,” Knollermaiden said, almost nonchalantly before going back to being cheery. “Then uncle asked me to move closer to him and he got me Ann.”

Snorkmaiden stared at her a minute over the breadcrumbs she was making. Knollermaiden had a touch of sadness as she mentioned her parents, though she seemed to be blocking off some of her emotions. It seemed the girl was starting to zone out again.

Snorkmaiden felt a bit awkward, and also sad. She was thinking about offering condolences and sympathy, but then she remembered yesterday when Knollermaiden stood outside Snufkin’s case saying something about getting settled.

Snorkmaiden hardened her gaze.

The fish cakes were easier to make than Snorkmaiden thought they would be. After they finished Knollermaiden asked if she wanted to make brownies too and Snorkmaiden obliged.

Snorkmaiden probably would have had fun like she had at the tea party if it weren’t for the fact that she kept thinking about the night before and seeing Snufkin in the case.

It didn’t matter though. She wasn’t there to have fun. She wasn’t there to befriend this girl. She was there for the mission, to free all those poor creatures. 

While the brownies baked they chatted in the dining room with some lemonade. Snorkmaiden wondered how she was going to ask to be able to go to the museum if she couldn’t mention it. . .

Finally, the brownies finished baking and after they cooled for a bit, the girls each tried one.

Snorkmaiden forgot herself for a minute because they were some amazing brownies.

A little later she found the right moment.

“Can I help deliver the fish cakes later?” Snorkmaiden asked.

“Ok,” Knollermaiden smiled. “I suppose it’s only fair since you helped make them. Want to come back tonight around. . Six?”

“I’d love to,” Snorkmaiden smiled. The plan was working.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you guys know a good place where I can post original stories? I looked it up and it seems I can't put them on Ao3. idk
> 
> Also, if you have constructive criticism don't be afraid to post it, I like knowing where I can improve!
> 
> Thanks!


	12. The Long Night Begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's going to be a really long night for these guys

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wonder if I'm going to be posting another chapter on my birthday. It's on Thanksgiving this year actually. Maybe I'll end up posting everything before then. Maybe I won't, idk.
> 
> My sister can confirm, I have been _Really_ excited while I've been writing the climax! Omg, I've been freakin out about it. I've mostly been pantsing this the whole time yet everything feels like it's coming together really nicely! I'm really happy!

Snufkin felt like a balloon stuck against a ceiling. Light and full of anticipation, but still trapped and stressing out.

And he was _really_ stressing out. It just fueled his pacing to the point where Jenny complained it was exhausting watching him.

At least now the pacing felt like it had a purpose. It was full of anticipation and nerves instead of mindless dread and stir craziness. Not that the stir craziness went away though.

The day slowly went by. 

He and Jenny talked sometimes.

Snufkin noticed Jenny often playing with her hair, mindlessly winding it up like a bun before releasing it to tumble over her shoulders again.

Other times she picked at her metal cuff like Snufkin had, occasionally accidentally shocking herself as she looked for ways to get it off. 

When they’d taken Snufkin’s cuff off, they’d used a key. It seemed when they got out they were going to have to find that key somehow because Jenny wasn’t getting anywhere.

“ _When we get out I need to find where Knollor put my things too,_ ” Jenny said around midday.

“Hm?” Snufkin said, snapping out of his thoughts.

“ _Most of my stuff can be replaced, but I want my real clothes back. That and there’s something he took that’s **very** important to me,_” Jenny said a bit nervously. 

Snufkin found that thought provoking. “What is it?” He asked, thinking of his harmonica.

“ _It’s a hair stick that was my mom’s. It’s the only thing I took from the village before I left,_ ” Jenny said solemnly. “ _I guess Knoller figured I could use it as a weapon if I needed to, but really it’s too dull to stab someone with. It would still hurt some though. . ._ ”

“That does sound important. Something that can’t be replaced,” Snufkin murmured. 

“ _Yeah. I bet some of these other creatures have important things that Knoller took too. . ._ ” Jenny said.

Snufkin nodded, thinking. 

He was glad most of his things were left in Moominvalley. Just about everything he had could be replaced, but it would be a hassle. The only really important things were the clothes on his back, his hat, and his harmonica, all of which he had on him.

“When the time is right, we’ll find them,” Snufkin said determinedly.

They continued waiting nervously. They had no way of knowing what to expect. They couldn’t know what Snufkin’s friends were planning. 

After what felt like an eternity, Knoller and a bunch of guests came.

Snufkin tried to pretend to sleep again since it had at least worked for a little bit the day before. He just had to make sure Knoller didn’t startle him again.

Only it didn’t work today because he was too jittery. They figured out he was awake quickly and he had to get up. He did it slowly, playing up the act that he’d just woken up, and thankfully they seemed to buy it.

He played a song for them, as reluctantly and sloppy as ever. Then he spotted Snorkmaiden again. She was mingling with the others, laughing at something that Knollermaiden girl said.

Snufkin realized he was staring and quickly turned away. She was undercover, he remembered. He couldn’t make her look suspicious.

Every nerve in his body tingled anxiously. He hoped whatever she was planning would be soon. He could feel his heart beating a bit faster.

………. 

Little My was huddled in the bottom of Snorkmaiden’s bag, hidden under a delicious smelling box.

Snorkmaiden had told her extremely firmly not to sneak any of the fish cakes because she needed exactly two dozen to give to the shapeshifter and the boy who never drowned.

Little My normally wouldn’t bother heeding such words, but right then she was focused stubbornly on Snufkin. 

She was going to get her brother out of this hell hole no matter what.

Right then, Little My was peering out of the tiny hole she’d made in the bag. They were walking through Knoller’s mansion towards the fireplace with a few other guests. Little My was glaring loathfully at Knoller’s back, gnashing her teeth. He was the one responsible for this. The monster who caused everything. 

It was very difficult being patient. She’d had to be patient for so long already, getting to Knoller’s house and waiting in the parlor for ages.

They all got on the elevator and slowly descended. 

Knollermaiden and Snorkmaiden parted from the group. Knollermaiden actually took Snorkmaiden straight to the faculty door.

Little My wondered if she should go ahead and sneak out of the bag. 

They got up the stairs into a wide-open room with hatches all over the floor.

“We can just leave the bag with Nigel. He’s in charge of feeding all the creatures,” Knollermaiden said, pointing at a door with a window in it that showed the inside looked like a cross between an office and a storage room. Someone was sitting inside looking bored at a newspaper. 

Snorkmaiden seemed to hesitate. They were expecting to just give the fish cakes to the boy and the shapeshifter personally. 

Little My thought quickly. Snorkmaiden was clearly worried about leaving her alone with this “Nigel” guy. If she hesitated too much she could raise suspicion.

“Do it!” Little My whispered, bumping Snorkmaiden’s side. She would be fine.

Little My could almost _feel_ how worried Snorkmaiden clearly was about this. 

Knollermaiden knocked on the door and Nigel looked up through the window, seeing them. He opened the door and Snorkmaiden handed him the bag.

He set it down on a table next to some boxes and Snorkmaiden and Knollermaiden left.

Little My was alone with this dude. 

She quickly came up with a plan. When he took the box out of the bag, he’d be startled to see her, so she’d use that to her advantage.

She’ll find a way to knock him out and then immediately start looking for the ladder.

She steeled herself and kept waiting.

………. 

Snorkmaiden was freaking out. She just left Little My _alone_ with a guard named Nigel. How was Little My going to accomplish her mission with him in there?! What if she got caught?!

Snorkmaiden took a deep breath, shuddering a little. She had to pull herself together. Little My was very clever, she’d figure something out. She was the one who whispered to go ahead and do it.

Still, as much as she told herself Little My knew what she was doing, she couldn’t stop worrying.

All she could do was distract herself with her acting and laugh at Knollermaiden’s jokes, trying not to glance over at Snufkin too much when they were in his room.

She kept thinking she could have just made a _terrible_ mistake.

_No! Just stop thinking like that, Little My is very capable,_ she scolded herself for the twelfth time. 

Before she knew it, almost an hour had passed and Knoller was rounding everyone up to go back upstairs.

She glanced around nervously at the elevator as they ascended. 

………. 

Moomintroll was hidden in some bushes in Knoller’s yard. Sniff was next to him, waiting for Snorkmaiden’s signal. 

They would be able to watch most of the guests leave from their vantage point, but just in case, Snorkmaiden was going to signal them when they’d all left.

Sniff was fretting a lot about what he was going to have to do all by himself, but he seemed determined.

They’d hidden everything he’d need to start a fire on the other side of the house near the garden house. He’d practiced with Moominpappa at camp that day to prepare.

Moomintroll was surprised at how brave Sniff was being. Sure he was obviously scared, but he was still going through with it and he hadn’t once mentioned anything about turning back when usually by now he’d be complaining and asking to leave.

After all, wasn’t bravery acting in spite of fear instead of just without any fear at all?

If that was the case, then Moomintroll was being pretty brave too.

He was _terrified_. This was his plan after all. What if everything went south and they couldn’t save Snufkin? What if someone got really hurt? What if it failed?

It was a long time waiting in that bush, plenty of time to think about all the scary things that could go wrong, but Moomintroll didn’t waver on the outside.

He supposed maybe he managed it just because he didn’t want Sniff to be more worried. It felt quite likely that as soon as Sniff left Moomintroll wouldn’t be able to hold in all his fear and he’d start trembling or something. 

Still, though, they waited. 

Then there she was.

Snorkmaiden was at the door, still talking with Knollermaiden.

The two girls waved goodbye to one of the other guests. The last guest apparently since Snorkmaiden looked at the bush they were hiding in and winked when Knollermaiden wasn’t looking. 

“You can do this,” Moomintroll whispered encouragingly to Sniff. 

Sniff nodded, clearly still scared, but he ran off in the right direction, carefully avoiding the places Joxter told him to avoid.

Joxter was definitely already inside somewhere. 

Moomintroll realized he was going to have to move now. He took a deep breath. 

He was going to have to sneak inside and find Knoller and keep an eye on him. He was going to make sure Knoller didn’t have any counter plans up his sleeve, and if he reached for any weapons then Moomintroll was going to have to get to them first or keep him from them somehow. . .

He crept among the plants closer to the house. He wasn’t actually going inside until the fire was lit and most of the guards were out of the way. 

Still though, he prepared himself, getting close enough to dart in when the time was right.

He waited with bated breath. He could hear Snorkmaiden and Knollermaiden’s small talk from where he was now.

Snorkmaiden was stalling. Knollermaiden seemed to think she was about to leave. They laughed about something girly and Snorkmaiden kept the conversation moving.

Then a bit later it happened. 

Moomintroll could smell the smoke. 

People around the mansion were yelling and freaking out.

Knollermaiden was staring back at the house in the direction of the yelling, confusion and worry on her face.

“What happened?” She said, a little aghast.

“Let’s find out,” Snorkmaiden said, playing up the act of confusion and worry too. The girls ran back inside and Snorkmaiden left the front door a little ajar.

Moomintroll took another deep breath to calm his nerves, though it didn’t work very well, and forced himself forward before he could think too much.

He snuck inside.

………. 

Little My had to wait almost an hour before Nigel found her. It was boring and she was quickly losing her patience. 

Finally, he started shuffling around, going through a few boxes and bags. 

He took the box of fish cakes out of Little My’s bag, and she jumped out at him, yelling as mean as she could which was enough to scare him and get him to spill the box of fish cakes on the floor.

Nigel stumbled backward and Little My jumped on him, biting his arm hard.

He yelled and nearly slapped her, but she dodged out of the way.

He seemed to get his wits about him and grabbed a club off of his desk, angrily trying to wack her with it.

She was too nimble for him, dodging around the place, but there were a few close calls that would make her shudder when she remembered them later.

She got a few more good bites in and finally, got him to accidentally hit himself on the head with his own club, by sitting on his head and moving at the last second.

He flopped over, knocked out. 

Little My pushed him under the desk with some difficulty and gave him a solid kick for good measure. 

She turned and gazed at the rest of the storeroom. She was supposed to try to see if she can get Joxter and Snorkmaiden down here, but instead, she started searching for the ladder.

She wanted to get Snufkin first.

She looked around everywhere, behind things and below things and inside things, searching the entire room top to bottom, back to front, but there was no sign of any ladder. Just food.

“Urrggh!” She growled rather loud, kicking a box rather hard.

She went outside the food room, back to the wide-open one with all the hatches. 

She spotted another door. It kind of looked like a closet door maybe. She checked inside and found a board on the wall with a bunch of hooks and a few keys, as well as five metal cuff looking things attached to the wall beside them.

There was a random bucket that smelled rather gross, a table with a few brown bottles and a drawer, and there in the back was a rope ladder!

Little My felt massive relief in seeing it piled on the floor there. She grabbed it and ran with it dragging behind her.

She didn’t know which hatch would lead to Snufkin, so she started opening them randomly.

The first one she opened, a girl with big deer antlers stared up at her with wide eyes.

“Nope,” Little My muttered, leaving the hatch open and running to the next one.

A little stony looking troll this time.

“Nope,” she muttered again, getting impatient again already. 

She opened quite a few hatches, getting further and further, leaving each one open so she knew which ones she’d checked already.

She had checked about half of them when she found him.

She opened a hatch, stared down at a familiar green hat, and gasped.

“Snufkin!” She yelled. Snufkin snapped his head up to look at her.

“Little My?!” He said, relief flooding through his features.

Little My glanced around furiously for something to attach the rope ladder to, noticing little metal hooks on the floor by the hatch.

“I’ll get you out,” She said, frantically looping the ladder over the hooks and shoving the rest of it down.

Snufkin wasted no time at all scrambling up and over the edge of the hatch, sitting on the ground gasping. Once he was fully out, Little My leaped at him, catching him off guard.

She gripped his smock tightly in a hug, pressing her face into his shoulder.

“Don’t you ever get kidnapped on us again you hear me?!” She yelled angrily at him, feeling tears slipping out of her eyes.

Snufkin was clearly very surprised by this, but he hugged her back when he got his wits about him, laughing and sounding like he was about to cry too.

“I’ll try my best,” He said, voice cracking, but clearly smiling.

She sat there clinging to him for a bit, feeling the rise and fall of his chest.

“Is anyone else here?” Snufkin asked, looking around.

“They’re upstairs. We have a plan,” Little My said, rubbing her face into his smock to get the tears off before finally letting go of him so she could talk to him properly.

“I need to find a way to get Snorkmaiden and Joxter down here,” She said, standing on his lap, gaze hardened. “Moomintroll is keeping an eye on Knoller. Moominpappa, Moominmamma, and Sniff are distracting guards. We’re going to get everyone out of those cases.”

Snufkin nodded and stood up.

“Alright,” he said determinedly. “I’ll start getting everyone up here then. You go,” He said.

Little My didn’t want to leave so soon. She’d only just found him for goodness sake. She knew she had a job to do though. It wasn’t like her to get so sentimental and emotional. 

Snufkin was already pulling up the ladder. He worked quickly, running to a hatch near his and opening it. 

Little My stared worryingly at him for a moment before running off down the stairs. He would be ok. He was ok. She could do this.


	13. Surprise Attack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Long Night continues

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another long one guys! I am _super_ excited about this! I hope you enjoy it, we're almost done
> 
> Eeeeeee!!!!
> 
> And thank you _so, so_ much for reading and commenting and leaving kudos, I love you all!

Snufkin could breathe again. He was finally getting out. He was still underground, but this was a much more open space, a big step up from the tiny, wretched case.

He swung one side of the ladder into Jenny’s case and she climbed up fast.

“Snufkin!” She said, giving him a hug when she was out. He wasn’t usually a touchy-feely type, but he allowed it.

“Do we have a plan? What should we do?” She said rather urgently, brows creased as she released him.

“Wow, your real voice, it’s actually a little different,” he said wonderingly.

“Yes, whatever. It’s not _that_ different. Focus,” She said exasperatedly.

“Ok, ok. Right now we’re getting everyone out of the cases and up here,” He said, bending down and pulling up the ladder. He thought for a minute. “Why don’t you go open all the hatches? We’ll only close the empty ones so we know which ones we’ve already checked, and some of the creatures will be able to fly out on their own.”

“Got it,” She said, rushing off. Quite a few were already opened. Almost half actually. The phoenixes had already cautiously emerged and the owl-cat was peaking over the top of his hatch. 

Meanwhile, Snufkin was running to the next hatch.

They worked as fast as they could. Very slowly, the big room was being occupied with tons of different creatures.

A little bit later Little My returned.

“I couldn’t find a way to get up. I think it has to be opened from the other side,” Little My said a bit worriedly.

Snufkin didn’t like that realization. They could be completely trapped down here if no one opened the top. They would just have to hope their friends could figure it out. 

Meanwhile, Little My helped manage the creatures. 

There were a lot of mixed emotions. Many were scared and anxious, many relieved, a few angry, some crying, most a mix of everything.

A lot of them were really hungry too so Little My went to the storeroom and started passing out food.

Jenny was in the water section, pulling the two mermaids out of the water while the fairies buzzed around her head.

Snufkin was letting the ladder down into a case with a girl with ram horns.

“Snufkin, when did you eat last?” Little My ran up to him, carrying a bunch of the little loaves of bread.

“This morning,” He replied briefly, grabbing the girl’s hand and helping pull her up. 

“Thank you so much, _please_ get my friend too, she’s right there,” the ram horn girl said, pointing urgently at a hatch right near hers.

“Aarya!” A voice called from the open case she pointed at. The ram horn girl, Aarya, Snufkin supposed, rushed to the edge of her friend’s hatch and the two started talking.

Meanwhile, Snufkin was pulling up the rope ladder again. 

“What do you mean this morning? You need to eat something, no wonder you’re so thin,” Little My said, grabbing his sleeve.

“I’ll eat later, I’m getting everyone out first,” Snufkin said stubbornly, grabbing the ladder out and rushing to Aarya’s friend’s hatch.

Inside was a girl with big deer antlers waiting anxiously as her friend reassured her.

“I’m not going to let you drop from exhaustion,” Little My said exasperatedly. “There’s plenty of people here who can take over with the ladder.”

“Little My, I’m fine. Really,” Snufkin tried to reassure her, dropping the end of the ladder into the deer girl’s case. Aarya helped her friend maneuver her antlers through the hatch. “You guys can go over there for food,” Snufkin told the girls as they hugged once they got out.

They both thanked him profusely, rushing over to the gathering of creatures by the storeroom. 

“Snufkin!” Little My growled, frustrated. She knew he wasn’t going to listen, so she ran off to find someone to take over for him so she could physically drag him away to eat afterwards. 

She spotted Jenny helping a black-haired boy out of a water tank. He looked capable enough so Little My set down her bread and rushed over.

“Oh my gosh, it’s been too long since I’ve breathed like this,” the boy sighed with a smile, shaking excess water out of his clothes, though he would probably be soaked for a while.

“Was it. . Suffocating in there or anything?” Jenny asked, a bit concerned. 

“No, I can breathe underwater, it’s just very different,” the boy shrugged.

Just then a manta ray jumped, sailing out of the boy’s case and transformed midair into a tall, freckled boy with shaggy hair.

“ _Oh god_ ,” the tall boy said, stumbling forward from momentum and his black haired friend had to catch him. 

The two of them grinned wide.

“We’re actually out, I don’t have to be a _sea_ creature anymore,” the freckled boy laughed joyfully, bouncing a little, clearly more on the relieved side.

Little My had gotten distracted from the spectacle, staring with her mouth hung open, but then she remembered what she was doing.

“Hey, you two!” She snapped, getting their attention pretty easily. “I need you to take over with the ladder for my brother,” she said, pointing to where Snufkin was helping out the rock troll.

The boys looked at each other. The black-haired boy shrugged.

“Ok, sure,” the freckled boy grinned.

They all got to Snufkin as he was telling the troll to go get some food.

“Alright, hand it over,” Little My commanded, hand out, gesturing at the ladder.

“What?” Snufkin staring up at them confused.

“I’ve recruited them. You are going to rest _now._ ”

“It’s ok, we can handle this,” The black-haired boy said, leaning down and grabbing the ladder off of the floor.

Before Snufkin knew what was happening, Little My had grabbed the back of his smock and started dragging him over to the storeroom.

“ _Little My_!” Snufkin said exasperatedly, trying to get up. The Black-haired boy and the shapeshifter chuckled good-naturedly at his sister’s shenanigans before they moved on to the next hatch. 

He struggled a bit as she pulled him across the floor. He was surprised how easily such a small Mymble could pull him so well, though he supposed he had gotten very thin throughout this whole experience.

He groaned exasperatedly. 

Little My finally let go of him and ran just a few paces away to grab some bread. She grabbed five of the little loaves and dumped them in Snufkin’s lap.

“ _Eat,_ ” She said, crossing her arms.

“Little My, I told you, I’m _fine_. I can keep helping,” Snufkin said, starting to get up, but Little My jumped on him and sat firmly on his leg, managing to keep him down.

“Don’t make me bite you,” she glared. “You’re seriously going to collapse any minute if you don’t stop and take care of yourself, I can _see_ it,” she said exasperatedly.

“Wha- You can’t just _bite_ me to get me to eat-” Snufkin said, staring at her, mouth agape.

“I will if I have to. Honestly, I wouldn’t need to do this if you’d just take care of yourself properly,” Little My said, putting her hands on her hips.

“I _couldn’t_ take care of myself, I was stuck in a blasted case!” Snufkin protested frustratedly. 

“I just gave you a chance earlier to take care of yourself, and you refused. That’s why now I’m taking matters into my own hands. You’ll thank me later,” Little My said.

“Ugh. You are impossible,” Snufkin groaned. 

“Just eat already! Do you _want_ me to hand feed you?” Little My said.

“ _No_ ,” Snufkin said firmly, grabbing one of the little loaves. He was getting real sick of this bland, dry bread, but his stomach decided to grumble loudly at that inopportune moment. Little My raised an eyebrow at him.

He grumbled, taking a big bite of the bread. 

It took that moment for him to actually realize how much he was starving. And also how exhausted and shaky his arms were after hauling the ladder for so long.

After he finished all of the bread and the aching in his stomach finally subsided, He tried to get up again.

“Wait,” Little My said, pushing on his leg again. “Just sit, for _ten_ minutes at least. Then you can do what you want. Seriously.”

“You can’t just hold me hostage here Little My,” Snufkin glared.

“I’m not. Just ten minutes. Then you can go help,” Little My said, getting off of him finally. “Trust me.”

Snufkin sighed, but he was in no state to really argue. He really was exhausted. 

Little My gave him a rare smile. “I have some people to organize, and food to hand out. So _stay_.” She walked off and Snufkin glared flatly at her back. “Just ten minutes,” She repeated, glancing back at him.

Snufkin rolled his eyes.

He then spotted Jenny across the room staring at him and Little My in bewilderment.

Snufkin chuckled and caught her eye.

“Sisters. They’re just impossible,” Snufkin grumbled smiling.

Jenny burst out laughing.

………. 

Moomintroll was in the house. He was avoiding guards left and right as they rushed outside to help with the fire. 

He wished he wasn’t so noticeable. He’d never before been upset about being a big white Moomin, but right then it wasn’t a practical thing to be. It just made him more anxious and made it harder to hide.

Thankfully, most of the guards were outside so there weren’t many to avoid.

Moomintroll finally found Knoller standing by a back window, watching aghast from afar as his guards tried to put out the fire.

“How did this happen?” Knollermaiden asked, alarmed, a few feet away from her uncle. Snorkmaiden wasn’t anywhere to be found though. She’d probably already snuck off to find Joxter.

“We didn’t keep anything especially flammable in there,” Knoller said darkly, pacing back and forth. “I don’t think this was an accident.”

“But- why would anyone do this?” Knollermaiden said, sounding baffled.

“My dear, I think you should go home. I’ll explain some other time,” Knoller said coldly and firmly. He placed his hand on his niece’s shoulder and started leading her towards the door.

“But will the gardeners be okay?” Knollermaiden trembled. She looked a bit overwhelmed.

“That’s not the main concern right now Knollermaiden,” Knoller said, seeming annoyed at her.

Moomintroll carefully snuck behind them as they moved through the house.

“But they could be hurt!” Knollermaiden cried. Knoller moved her a bit faster through the hallways and outside the front door. 

“Go home niece. I’ll visit or send you a message tomorrow,” Knoller said coldly. He called for Knollermaiden’s carriage.

Moomintroll watched as he almost forced her inside. She didn’t resist at all, clearly shaken up about everything.

Moomintroll was glad they had one less person to deal with, but it was almost disturbing seeing Knoller treat his own niece like that.

Knoller stormed back inside as Knollermaiden’s carriage rolled away.

Moomintroll followed.

………. 

Joxter was hidden among a few rafters, a little ways away from the fireplace. Down below there were four guards left. All the others were outside.

The fireplace was still under heavy enough guard though. Joxter’s tail twitched and he glared down at them.

There had been no sign of Little My for ages now so he assumed she hadn’t found a way to open it from below or anything and was helping the creatures out.

Snorkmaiden was hiding nearby him. Not in the rafters, but down below in an adjacent hallway.

Joxter was waiting for Moominmamma and Moominpappa’s distraction. He had no clue what they were planning.

Then he heard loud voices outside. It was faint since he was sitting near the middle of the house and the walls were thick, but he could just barely make out Moominpappa projecting something. He sounded like he was acting.

A bit later a guard came running below him.

“We need whoever you can spare,” the guard said breathily. “There are too many people taking care of the fire and there’s people outside who are going to get the cops. We need to stop them!”

Three of the guards below ran off with the first guard, leaving one for Joxter to take care of.

He hoped Moominpappa and Moominmamma would be ok. They had quite a strange, dangerous distraction. . No wonder he’d seen Moominmamma practicing with her frying pan earlier that day. . .

Joxter crept forward in the shadows until he was right above the last guard. He knew each of the guards had a club and a dagger on their person. He was going to steal the club and knock the guard out with it.

His body tensed in anticipation. 

He stared intensely at the stranger.

Then he pounced.

Right on target, on top of the guard and knocking said guard to the floor. 

Joxter grabbed the club as the guard yelled in alarm and grabbed his knife. Joxter had to block the knife first before he managed to get in a good hit with the club. 

He managed it and knocked the guard out, right as Snorkmaiden emerged from the hallway.

The two of them wordlessly tied up the guard with something they found in a closet, then shoved the guard in said closet for someone to find later.

Snorkmaiden rushed to the candelabra on the fireplace.

Joxter decided to keep the club for now. 

“Hey, want this knife?” Joxter asked, picking up said knife.

“Uh,” Snorkmaiden grimaced. “I don’t think I could use that even if I did take it,” She said, looking a little sick at the thought.

“Eh. Fair enough. I prefer the club anyway,” Joxter said, dropping the knife in a nearby vase. 

He was nearly vibrating as they waited for the elevator to descend. He was extremely anxious to finally see his son after so long waiting. 

The last time he’d seen Snufkin kept popping up in his vision.

He rubbed his temples, staring with wide eyes at the wall, tapping his foot. 

The image had been burned into his mind. Snufkin slung over Knoller’s shoulder, crying.

He gripped the club with white knuckles, shoulders incredibly tense. 

He _had_ to see his son. He had to make sure he was ok. He was desperate.

He’d spent so long searching, so long waiting. Now they were finally so close, after so long.

When the elevator stopped, he practically leaped off, taking off running into the museum foyer.

Snorkmaiden wasn’t too far behind.

He frantically veered off somewhere and Snorkmaiden had to yell, telling him to follow her another way.

He followed, noticing most of the cases he passed were empty. Empty and. . . Small.

His skin bristled angrily at the thought of someone trapping his son in something like that. 

Snorkmaiden pointed at the faculty door as it came into sight and Joxter leaped ahead, reaching it and pulling it open.

Joxter thundered up the stairs, emerging into a wide-open room. 

There were a bunch of creatures huddled close to a wall, staring fearfully at him and holding bits of food.

Joxter glanced around frantically and finally spotted him.

Snufkin was across the room with a bunch of other creatures, kneeling around one of the larger hatches. 

“Snufkin!” Joxter yelled, bolting towards his son.

Snufkin looked up and gasped, barely backing away from the edge of the hatch before Joxter barreled into him with a hug, nearly knocking him over with his momentum. 

Snufkin seemed to be frozen in shock at first. 

Time itself seemed to freeze around them. Seconds passed like nervous heartbeats. Then Snufkin started trembling.

“ _Dad_ ,” Snufkin sobbed, melting into the hug and crying in his shoulder. “Dad, I’m sorry-” He took a wheezy breath, crying harder.

Joxter was shaking now. “What? Snufkin, you did nothing wrong,” he said, voice ragged. He was about to cry too. 

He could feel eyes on them from confused and concerned creatures, but he didn’t care.

“But I- I’m the reason they tied you up and- and hurt you,” Snufkin sobbed, clutching him.

“No. No, no, no, they _kidnapped_ you, that was _not_ your fault,” Joxter said, feeling a growl in his throat that he suppressed. “That was all them. You did what anyone would do.”

Snufkin shook harder. Joxter rubbed his back.

People were moving around them. Joxter was barely aware of Snorkmaiden and Little My’s voices not far away.

“Um, hey, we still have a problem here, we could use the help,” Someone said hesitantly.

“Just give them a moment. It’s been a trying week,” Snorkmaiden said.

A while later, after a very emotional father-son reunion that left both Snufkin and Joxter smiling better than they had in ages, Joxter was helping get the last of the creatures free.

They’d run into a problem with the centaur. He wasn’t even a fully grown one, but he was having great trouble with the rope ladder and it creaked terribly when he put too much weight on it.

In the end, Joxter and the rock troll climbed down and helped boost him up so there would be less strain on the ladder.

Others helped from the top, pulling and such. He was a very heavy centaur, and it was very difficult, but they managed it, and the centaur cried, thanking them for not leaving him behind. 

Joxter and the rock troll climbed back up easily.

There were only a few more things to worry about now. A few sea creatures who couldn’t leave the water.

The boy who never drowned managed to help with that problem by finding buckets they could scoop them up in. Then the Sea Horses offered to carry the mermaids.

From there on all they had to do was double-check they hadn’t left anyone behind, get a weird metal cuff off of the red-headed girl, and shuffle off to the elevator.

While they figured out the centaur problem and the sea creature problems, someone had searched the area for special belongings Knoller had taken from various creatures.

They weren’t found anywhere down there, so they knew Knoller must keep them upstairs somewhere in the house.

Joxter didn’t like it, but the red-headed girl and a few others insisted on making a team to find their stuff.

Snufkin actually vouched for them which was a bit surprising.

“We should split into groups,” Snufkin said. “There’s already too many of us to go at once. You and Little My can take turns sneaking small groups out to the forest. Snorkmaiden can man the elevator. Me and a few others can look for important belongings.”

Joxter didn’t want to leave his son so soon. He was getting jittery and anxious, but in the end, he trusted his son. 

Snufkin would be prepared, he’d be cautious, and he wouldn’t be alone.

There were only a few people with important enough things that couldn’t be replaced. So Snufkin assembled them while Little My organized the rest of the creatures into little groups.

Joxter stared anxiously after his son as he ascended in the elevator with his first group. 

Snufkin gave him a reassuring look before the elevator raised Joxter too far out of sight.

Snufkin and his group would be the next ones up, followed by Little My.

Joxter shook his head to clear his thoughts. He was going to have to avoid a lot of guards if they were going to pull this off sneakily. And leading a bunch of inexperienced, malnourished, out of shape creatures no less.

This was going to be a long night.

………. 

Snufkin and his group were in the elevator now. He had Jenny, the fairies, Aarya and her deer friend Faena, and a miniature troll boy who said his name was Miretroll.

Snorkmaiden was with them, operating the elevator which she had gotten the hang of pretty quickly. 

They emerged into a grand looking hallway. 

“Everyone stay quiet and stick together,” Snufkin said, creeping forward. Everyone nodded and followed nervously.

Snufkin cautiously checked the nearest door, finding an unconscious guard inside. He closed it again quickly and moved on to the next door.

They crept along, checking around for guards as they went. 

They checked many doors and closets, searched quite a few rooms for their things, but they weren’t having any luck yet.

At one point they were going along when Snufkin’s ears perked up. He froze. Someone was coming.

Snufkin shoved everyone into the nearest closet, squeezed himself in, and shut the door, shushing everyone.

They listened and watched through tiny slits in the closet door as a few guards ran past.

Everyone could feel each other's nerves in the cramped space. 

They waited with bated breath for the coast to be clear. 

Finally, they crept back out, feeling much more nervous than before, and continued their search.

………. 

Moomintroll was still tailing Knoller.

Knoller was in his study upstairs, pacing. Moomintroll was looking to see if he could trap him in the study. That would keep him out of the way.

Unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be much to block the door with, or at least nothing that Knoller wouldn’t be able to push past. And what if he left through a window when he realized he was trapped? Sure they were on the second story, but Knoller could have a ladder somewhere.

While Moomintroll was looking around, he saw a gun displayed artfully on the wall. He nervously took it down and hid it. It might not be a real one, but he wasn’t taking any chances.

He found a few more display weapons and hid them as well, always glancing around to make sure no one had snuck up behind him.

He wondered how everyone else was doing with their missions. 

Moomintroll checked on Knoller again and saw he was sitting and writing letters rather quickly.

Moomintroll went and spotted another weapon, a spear, and hid it in a closet. He then glanced out the window down the hall and spotted something.

He went over to the window.

Way down outside, Little My was leading a bunch of creatures into the forest. 

He watched them disappear among the trees, then a bit later Little My was running back towards the mansion.

It didn’t take much deduction to realize they were leading the escaped creatures out in little groups. After all, Snorkmaiden said there was a lot.

Moomintroll pulled the curtains closed over the window. He didn’t want any guards or Knoller to glance out and spot them like he did. That could be very bad.

He went back to check on Knoller again.

He stared agape at the room, heart beating faster. Knoller was gone.

He’d _lost_ him!

………. 

Snufkin and the others finally stumbled across two rooms where they found their belongings. 

One of them was a bit more closet-like and they found Jenny’s clothes, and the other looked like a nice sitting room with big windows and couches and a fireplace and the Miretroll had found what he was looking for in a little dresser.

He gasped when he found it. It was a bit bigger than a baseball, looking like a cross between a rock and a pearl, with tufts of fur on it.

“What is it?” Aarya asked confused, gazing curiously at it.

“My brother,” Miretroll said, tearing up and holding it close.

“ _Brother?_ ” Aarya gasped. Miretroll explained something to her about Mires while Jenny searched through the dresser for her hair stick.

“If you’re careful, you can go back to the elevator and join the next group that’s leaving,” Snufkin said to Miretroll.

Miretroll nodded and left a minute later.

The fairies and Faena were still in the closet next door. The fairies were frantically looking for a bag of special dust, and Faena was looking for her purse and Aarya’s satchel, both of which apparently held incredibly important things they couldn’t leave behind.

Aarya searched for the bags in the bigger room with Snufkin.

Jenny was getting frustrated, checking and double-checking drawers, searching through things. 

Finally, Aarya found hers and Faena’s things, and the two girls left like Miretroll.

“I’m going to check the closet again,” Jenny said frustratedly, closing another drawer. “I might go ahead and change quick while I’m at it.”

“I’ll keep looking for it in here then,” Snufkin said. Jenny nodded. She described it to him for the third time just in case before cautiously checking outside and easing the door shut behind her.

Snufkin kept on looking. At one point he glanced out the window and saw that the guards were getting the fire under control now. That made him nervous. They didn’t have a lot of time left. He was glad he’d told the others to go on without them. 

He opened each of the drawers carefully, searching methodically through each of them, but the hair stick was nowhere to be found.

He looked under the dresser, under the couch, under a little china hatch, when he spotted it.

He sighed in relief and pulled it out. A mostly silver hair stick with a carved, wooden end. The same length Jenny had described.

He shoved it in his pocket and stood up, right as the door slammed closed, startling him. He hadn’t even noticed anyone opening it.

He turned around and it was Knoller.

Snufkin froze, gasping, His heart was pounding.

“I heard you in here,” Knoller glared menacingly, slowly stalking towards him. “I saw your family outside, _leading my collection away no less_.”

Snufkin couldn’t find his voice. He’d never seen Knoller this cold and angry before. 

“So this is your doing, hmm? It’ll take ages to track them all down again,” Knoller stalked closer. His voice was so low and threatening.

Snufkin stumbled backward, trying to find his voice, to yell or call for help, or just _something_. A cold, strangling terror clenched in his chest.

“You shouldn’t have tested me like this,” Knoller advanced, fists clenched tight.

Snufkin stumbled into the wall, jumping startled at the contact. Frantically, he grabbed the dresser next to him and pushed it over towards Knoller, darting over it to keep from getting cornered.

Knoller growled and chased after him.

Snufkin bolted towards the door, but Knoller grabbed his arm, jerking him back. Knoller tried to grab his other arm too, but Snufkin bit down hard on his hand. Knoller yelled angrily and Snufkin wrenched himself away.

He ran to the door and pulled on the handle, but found it locked. Panicking and gasping for breath, he rammed his shoulder on it.

Knoller cornered him, roughly grabbed his shoulder, and slammed him against the wall.

Snufkin cried out in pain and Knoller grabbed his throat.

He choked, gasping for air, grabbing Knoller's hand and trying in vain to pry it off.

His heart beat frantically. He was _terrified_.

“You’re going to regret leaving your case,” Knoller said, gazing coldly at him as Snufkin tried to dig his claws into his hand, but they were useless.

Snufkin’s lungs were really starting to hurt as he frantically tried to loosen the grip on his throat with white knuckles.

Finally, he managed to kick Knoller hard in the chest and that was enough to writhe around out of his grip.

Snufkin stumbled away gasping and hyperventilating, bolting towards the window.

He fumbled opening it as fast as he could as Knoller ran towards him growling.

Snufkin scrambled out the window into a wide-open part of the yard. Up ahead between a few bushes was the smoldering garden house with a bunch of guards finishing up with the fire. 

Gib was running towards the mansion from that direction, but he paused when he spotted Snufkin, looking very confused and surprised.

“Gib, grab him!” Knoller yelled angrily, climbing out the window.

Snufkin took off running the other way, but Gib was fast.

Snufkin’s legs pounded across the grass, taking him as fast as he could. He _could not_ go back, he wasn’t getting trapped again. He panted heavily.

Gib caught up and tackled him. They rolled over the ground a bit, Gib trying to hold him down and Snufkin trying to get away. 

Snufkin kicked and scratched desperately and Gib pinned down his shoulders.

Snufkin noticed Jenny staring terrified from a window as Knoller got closer.

Snufkin caught her eye.

“ _Run!_ ” He said, wide-eyed and still trying to kick Gib off of him.

Jenny hardened her gaze and opened the window.

Moomintroll burst out of the back door, running towards Snufkin and tackling Gib off of him.

“ _Moomintroll?!_ ” Snufkin rolled over, getting to his feet.

“Run Snufkin!” Moomintroll yelled, punching Gib in the face. Gib fought back growling.

Snufkin stumbled backward agape. He didn’t want to leave Moomintroll behind, but his body was just instinctively heading Moomintroll’s words.

Only just then Knoller caught up. Snufkin glanced back, yelping when he saw how close he was. He tried running but only made it a few steps before Knoller grabbed him, pinning his arms down and lifting him up an inch before Snufkin could stomp on his foot.

Knoller was squeezing him painfully tight. Snufkin thrashed about desperately, hyperventilating.

Jenny kicked Knoller hard from behind and Knoller yelled in pain and surprise, loosening his grip on Snufkin. 

Snufkin wrenched out of his grip and fell on the ground, then Knoller tripped over him.

Knoller fell with a thump a foot away and Jenny hurriedly helped Snufkin up.

Moomintroll cried out when Gib hit him a bit too hard and Snufkin snapped his gaze to his old friend.

“Friend of yours?” Jenny said breathlessly, pulling Snufkin away from Knoller.

“We can’t leave him behind,” Snufkin said shakily, but Knoller was groaning and getting back up.

Snufkin and Jenny had to rush past him to get to Moomintroll. Snufkin bolted over just as Moomintroll gave Gib one last good punch that put him in a daze. He seemed incapacitated.

Snufkin pulled Moomintroll up off the ground but heard Jenny yell in alarm behind him.

Knoller had grabbed her leg and she was trying desperately not to fall while she pulled away.

Snufkin gasped, but before he could go and help the guards from the extinguished garden house ran over.

Moomintroll pulled Snufkin closer, backing away as the guards were surrounding them.

Snufkin was suddenly aware of how weak his legs were and how violently he was shaking.

They were too late. 

They were trapped.

Jenny finally managed to kick her foot out of Knoller’s grip, but she stumbled backward right into a guard. It grabbed her and she fought to get away, but it shoved her down to the ground.

She immediately tried to get back up, but the guard put his boot on her back, pressing her down.

She breathed in sharply, arms shaking as she pushed against him. Snufkin saw her eyes were wide and bright red.

Jenny sagged, panting, wincing hard as the guard increased the pressure on her back.

“Snufkin, _come_ ,” Knoller said firmly. He had stood up and he was staring coldly at the two boys, though now that he clearly had the upper hand, he was less mad.

Snufkin snapped his gaze up at Knoller, mouth slightly open. 

“What?” Moomintroll pulled Snufkin closer, sounding like he was glaring confusedly at Knoller.

“Come here _now._ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the cliff hanger. . .


	14. Come to Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snufkin makes a choice

Snufkin stared aghast at Knoller. He could feel Moomintroll gripping his arm tight. 

_Moomintroll._

Snufkin was still processing the fact that his best friend was finally here, finally with him, but he couldn’t be glad. They were trapped, surrounded.

Jenny was on the ground about two yards away. Panting and straining against the guard’s boot still pressed firmly against her back.

Everything else was silent. There was still the thick scent of smoke in the air.

A few of the guards crept a little closer, but Knoller put a hand up stopping them.

“No. I want him to come on his own,” He said calmly, staring at Snufkin.

Snufkin was suddenly very aware of how heavy he was breathing, how fast he could feel his heart beating.

“If you don’t come when I tell you, I’ll hurt him,” Knoller nodded his head at Moomintroll.

Snufkin inhaled sharply. “No, y- you can't-” he trembled, feeling Moomintroll grow tenser.

“What? No, Snufkin, don’t listen to him,” Moomintroll said steadily, glancing around.

“I’ll hurt her too,” Knoller said coldly, pointing at Jenny. “But if you obey nicely you can help them.”

“Snufkin! Don’t be an idiot, they’ll hurt us anyway,” Jenny said desperately, wincing with a pained face when the guard pressed more of his body weight on her.

“Nope. I’ll make sure the guards handle them carefully. Now _Come Here_ ,” Knoller said intensely, holding one hand out.

Snufkin glanced between Moomintroll and Jenny, trembling madly. 

Moomintroll was trying to find an opening among the guards. Jenny was staring at Snufkin aghast like she knew what he was about to do.

When Moomintroll wasn’t paying as close attention, Snufkin twisted his arm out of Moomintroll’s grip, backing up.

“Snufkin- Wha-” Moomintroll blubbered, reaching for Snufkin, clearly caught off guard.

Snufkin backed out of reach, towards Knoller even though every instinct, every nerve in his body told him to run in the opposite direction as far as possible.

“I can’t,-” Snufkin trembled, staring at Moomintroll, barely able to get the words out. “I _can’t_ let them hurt you.”

One of the guards grabbed Moomintroll to keep him from grabbing Snufkin.

“Snufkin!” Moomintroll said exasperated and angry, trying to get away, and to the guards' credit, they didn’t hurt him as they kept him there.

Snufkin turned around, feeling his eyes stinging, towards Knoller who grinned knowingly.

“Don’t keep me waiting.”

………. 

Moomintroll stared aghast as Snufkin slowly walked towards Knoller, trembling madly. 

What was he thinking?!

“You idiot,” the red-eyed girl said, weakly hitting the ground, shuddering.

Snufkin got over to Knoller and visibly flinched when Knoller grabbed him and put his arm around Snufkin’s shoulder, pulling him close.

Snufkin was staring at the ground, unable to meet either of his friend’s eyes, shivering uncomfortably next to Knoller.

Moomintroll looked around desperately for anyone who could help, Joxter, Little My, his parents, anyone.

It couldn’t end like this. They were going to save Snufkin. They couldn’t fail!

Moomintroll was pale. He felt like he was being crushed by a million rocks. Everything was falling apart.

The guards pressed a bit closer to him and Moomintroll tensed even more. His teeth were clenched tight with worry. He couldn’t fight off all these guards. Both of their distractions were long gone, the fire put out, and Moominmamma and Moominpappa far away, leading a bunch of guards on a wild goose chase.

Moomintroll stared at Snufkin again. Snufkin’s hat was tilted just enough that Moomintroll couldn’t see his eyes, but Snufkin was gripping his scarf, arms close to his chest, clutching it with white knuckles. 

Moomintroll was furiously frustrated he couldn’t do anything about it. He felt angry tears creeping out of his eyes. This wasn’t supposed to happen!

“You three, go find a good place to put these troublemakers. As soon as they’re secure I want everyone we can spare out retrieving the rest of the collection,” Knoller said, and a few guards left, going towards the house.

“No!” Moomintroll yelled angrily, too mad to care if he wasn’t being wise. “You can’t have them! You can’t just shut people up in terrible display cases!” He pulled madly against the guards holding him.

Knoller stared unimpressed at him. “I can do what I want boy,” he said, pressing Snufkin tighter to his side, just enraging Moomintroll further.

“You’re a Monster!” Moomintroll yelled, straining and struggling in the guards’ hold, baring his teeth and growling like he never has before.

He managed to pull them all towards Knoller. They were having difficulty keeping him back, to the point where one of them tried putting him in an arm lock.

The red-eyed girl stared agape, still panting a little from her spot on the ground.

Snufkin looked up at him with terrified eyes. “Moomintroll, don’t make them hurt you,” Snufkin said desperately. 

“Wise words,” Knoller said looking slightly amused, strolling slowly towards him, Snufkin stumbling along beside.

Moomintroll just strained harder against the guards, angry tears running down his face. He didn’t care though. 

Snufkin was covering his face. Knoller gripped Snufkin’s shoulder firmly

“Don’t- just don’t hurt him, -don’t hurt them,” Snufkin whispered trembling. 

“Well, get him to stop then. Surely you can convince him to calm down,” Knoller said, shoving Snufkin forward a bit, grabbing his other shoulder too. He held him there, just a few feet away from Moomintroll.

Snufkin took a shaky deep breath, sounding like he was crying. He reached out a trembling hand hesitantly towards Moomintroll.

Moomintroll strained to reach it, grabbing him tightly, panting against the guards.

“Moomintroll, _please_ stop,” Snufkin whispered, his voice cracking.

Moomintroll felt his heart breaking into a million pieces. His anger melted away as he desperately held on to his best friend’s hand tightly.

“I _can’t_ , I can’t let them keep you here,” Moomintroll said, crying harder.

Snufkin just sagged, trembling harder as Knoller held him up. Moomintroll could barely hear him crying, but it was obvious he was.

Then all of a sudden Snufkin seemed to freeze. He glanced up, mouth just slightly open, eyes red and wet but staring distantly like he was straining to hear something.

Moomintroll’s ears flicked. He heard it too. He gasped as quietly as he could.

Someone was running through grass towards them. Not just someone, a lot of people.

It was getting louder.

Knoller glanced up in confusion, and then alarm.

“Get them inside, _now_ ,” Knoller commanded harshly, abruptly pulling Snufkin back

Before anyone could react too much, they were here.

Moomintroll gasped, enormous relief welling up like a balloon inside him when he saw them.

It was the Moominvalley Inspector, _finally_ back with Mamma, Pappa, and a whole battalion of police!

Knoller looked enraged. Before Snufkin could get his wits about him, Knoller had grabbed him around the stomach and hoisted him off the ground so Knoller was carrying him under one arm.

Snufkin kicked around panting uncomfortably and Knoller tightened his grip.

Moomintroll doubled his efforts against the guards holding him back, now with renewed energy since the cavalry had arrived. 

Knoller started towards the mansion at first, but then he looked at how fast the police were coming, and how much closer they were to the back door, and instead took off running down the garden path towards the field that led to the forest.

Snufkin yelled for help frantically, writhing around in the tight grip. 

Moomintroll was panicking. He yelled Snufkin’s name as Knoller carried him out of sight past big bushes.

Most of the guards were scattering. Some of them fought, but most decided it wasn’t worth it.

Police were herding them together and handcuffing them, but many of the guards escaped in different directions.

Moomintroll stomped on the foot of the last guard holding him and jerked away from the hold.

He glanced around frantically seeing the red-eyed girl nearly getting trampled as she tried to get up.

Moomintroll ran and helped her up.

“We need to find Snufkin and Knoller,” Moomintroll said frantically before running off in the direction Knoller had gone.

The girl was close behind him.

Moomintroll’s feet pounded beneath him as they navigated through the bushes, fearful of what would happen if Knoller got away.

He was just worrying that maybe Knoller had doubled back a different way when they heard Snufkin yelling again.

Moomintroll and the girl each gasped and put in an extra burst of speed, emerging at the edge of the garden and into the field, where Knoller was bolting towards the forest with Snufkin.

“We could lose him in there!” the girl said fearfully, They both went as fast as they could, but Knoller already had too big of a head start.

It looked like Snufkin was trying to reach his pocket.

He strained around Knoller’s arm to get to it, made more difficult from the bouncing of the running.

Finally, Snufkin managed to grab a sharp-looking stick out and stab it as hard as he could into Knoller’s arm.

Knoller cried out loudly in pain and shock, dropping Snufkin like a hot potato.

Snufkin rolled away, a little dazed from the landing, jumping back to his feet and bolting towards Moomintroll and the red-eyed girl.

“ _Snufkin!_ ” Moomintroll yelled, crying in relief as his best friend came barreling towards them over the field. 

Knoller was fuming, running a little ways behind him.

The two friends collided in a hug, nearly falling over into the grass. The red-eyed girl grabbed them and started pulling them back, but Knoller had stopped a little ways away and was cautiously taking a few steps back.

Moomintroll looked behind him to see Mamma, Pappa, and at least five other policemen running towards them getting very close.

Knoller was livid.

“That collection was my life’s work!” He bellowed angrily. “Mark my words, I will find you again someday, and you’ll pay!”

With that, he turned around and took off back towards the forest as fast as he could before the police could get too close.

Moomintroll stared after him as he went. Snufkin was shaking a little, clutching Moomintroll tightly.

Moomintroll could feel Snufkin panting heavily, but it was steadying.

The police ran past them, going after Knoller, but Moominmamma and Moominpappa rushed to Snufkin. They didn’t seem to want to interrupt the hug, so they stopped on either side of him, relief clear in their expressions.

Snufkin laughed a little, an airy relieved way, sounding like a huge weight was lifted off of him. 

“Jenny,” Snufkin murmured, still clutching Moomintroll but also holding out the smooth stick he’d been holding towards the red-eyed girl.

The girl took it. Moomintroll couldn’t see her face as she was a little behind and to the side of him, but he heard the shaky, yet happy breath she took.

“Thank you, though I’m glad you had it with you over there,” Jenny said. It also sounded like she was about to cry now too, though Moomintroll could hear the smile in her voice. 

Snufkin laughed airily again and it was infectious. Everyone joined in, all the tension they’d been carrying for the last few days easing out leaving nothing but joy for each other's company and safety. 

There were many more tears shed among them that night, but everyone was more relaxed than they’d been in a long time.

“We’re so glad you're safe now,” Moominmamma said with a big smile and tears in her eyes, rubbing Snufkin’s shoulder.

“Thank you,” Snufkin said quietly, grabbing her hand. His eyes were very watery.

After Snufkin and Moomintroll finally disentangled themselves, and Snufkin gave Moominmamma and Moominpappa hugs each too, they all went back to the mansion.

They found the Inspector there who said that later when he was filing a report he’d need to ask Snufkin a few questions, then soon after Joxter and Little My arrived.

Joxter and Little My were both terrified and furious when they heard what happened and how Knoller almost got away with Snufkin, but they were also extremely relieved that he was safe and sound now.

More hugs were given and Moomintroll was surprised Snufkin wasn’t complaining about all the physical contact. He usually didn’t like it very much.

Afterward, they went back to their camp and found it overrun with tons of the escaped creatures. 

Snorkmaiden and Sniff were overjoyed to see them back safe and sound, and so were most of the museum creatures. 

Moomintroll and his family were regarded like heroes among the escaped creatures.

They stayed up late into the night, talking and thanking and crying occasionally. 

A few of them left slinking off into the night. Some left in groups.

Some of the creatures wanted to come back with them to Moominvalley. Others didn’t have much other option, like the mermaids, seahorses, and other sea creatures. They needed to go to the ocean and Moominvalley’s beach was the closest one. 

...

Snufkin was having some trouble. He’d hadn’t had a proper moment to himself in days now, and he was exhausted.

These people were nice, really. And he managed to have fun for a while, but now he kept glancing around at everyone talking and laughing around him, he was getting really overwhelmed. 

It was cramped. Too many people around, and often too many people wanting to talk to him. Not to mention it was very late at night, or more precisely early in the morning, and Snufkin hadn’t slept properly in a while.

He was fidgeting uncomfortably, trying to relax, but he couldn’t.

Moomintroll seemed to notice.

“You can go if you want, I bet you haven’t had proper alone time in too long haven’t you?” Moomintroll said.

Snufkin smiled anxiously under his hat. His friend knew him so well.

“Are you sure? If I just disappeared everyone would freak out. They might think I went and got kidnapped again. . .” Snufkin trailed off worriedly.

“I’ll go around and tell them where you are. They all know just as well as I do how much you need your time to yourself,” Moomintroll said, patting his hand encouragingly. “Maybe you should take one of the tents, just far enough that you won’t be overwhelmed, but we can make sure your ok and no one sneaks up on you? I think some of the creatures are planning on staying up and keeping watch tonight anyway.”

“Wouldn’t a whole tent be a bit selfish? There’s only three and there’s already so many of us,” Snufkin said, worriedly.

“I don’t think anyone will mind too much. Plenty of people have already left, and plenty more are planning on sleeping under the stars. Stop worrying about it,” Moomintroll said, standing up and offering Snufkin a paw.

Snufkin hesitated before taking it, and Moomintroll helped him up and started leading him over to the edge of camp where the tents were.

Moomintroll told Moominmamma and Moominpappa what they were doing and the parents understood completely.

Joxter came over while they took down one of the tents. All night long, Joxter had been struggling to keep from being too clingy with his son now that they were back together safe and sound. 

Joxter seemed to be coping by just checking on his son every few minutes, giving him encouraging words and hugs if Snufkin wanted them, then keeping his distance for a little while so as not to overwhelm him. 

The older Mumrik decided to help with the tent. They took it down and walked a little ways away across the field where the noise from the gathering wouldn’t be as bothersome.

Snufkin still felt a little weird and anxious about hogging a tent to himself, but Joxter and Moomintroll reassured him that it was completely fine.

They helped him get all settled, assuring him that everyone would be keeping an eye out for Knoller in case he decided to show his face again.

Snufkin watched them retreat back towards all the people. He could still see everyone, and hear them a bit, but it was much calmer over here.

Eventually, he crawled into the tent and laid down, staring at the tent ceiling. He took one slow, deep, calming breath and let some of the tension ease out of him. 

He could smell the forest. A cool summer breeze blew into the tent. He could hear bugs.

He was finally out of that basement. He was finally safe. 

His eyes watered and he smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this chapter!  
> Just a few more things to wrap up now, and we'll be done!
> 
> I'm actually done writing the last of this, I just need to proofread it a little. Then I'll post more, hopefully, tomorrow. 
> 
> I've actually been struggling trying to find something else to write now that this is wrapped up. I might just jump immediately into a sequel for this, idk. Or I'll work on something else.
> 
> Also, I decided to get a Wattpad account that I may or may not post original stories on in the future. Right now the only thing on it is a copy of Rare Specimen. My user name on it if you want to look me up is @DeborahJean2ofClubs since just plain DeborahJean seemed to be taken.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading, Aaaa!!!!!!!!


	15. A Revelation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things settle down as they get back to the valley.
> 
> Then Snufkin has a revelation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just one chapter left! I'll warn you, it'll be a little short. 
> 
> Also, let me tell you when I was writing this I did _not_ expect everyone to hate Knoller with such ferocity. I mean, Wow. Not that that's exactly a _bad_ thing. The only real downside I can think of is that when you're too busy hating a character, you can't be too scared of them. I guess I'll just have to embrace the fact that only the characters will be scared of Knoller. .
> 
> Also still, my brain is like Aaaaahhhhh!!!!! Freaking out! So many people have read this! I always try to keep my expectations low so even just getting the first four comments I was like _ahhh!!!_ people commenting, and now there are _50 _!!!!!!!????__
> 
> __Thank you!!!!_ _

The next morning everyone slept very late, then there was a flurry of activity as people packed up camp and Moominmamma tried to find breakfast for everyone.

Over half of the museum creatures left. Snufkin counted fourteen people aside from him and his family who were coming back to Moominvalley.

Everyone was eager to hurry up and leave, especially the sea creatures. The trip would take four days at least on foot, and the Mermaids especially were getting dehydrated.

There was also the problem of food. They barely even had enough for breakfast that morning. 

In the end, Little My took a group of brave creatures to raid Knoller’s kitchen.

Meanwhile, Snufkin and Jenny were packing up the tents into tight bundles for easier carrying.

Jenny had her hair in a bun, the hair stick stuck through to keep it out of her face while she worked. 

“Are you coming with us?” Snufkin asked, pulling one of the straps on his bundle tight.

“Yeah, I think so. I might not stay for too long though,” Jenny said, struggling a bit with her own bundle.

“Understandable,” Snufkin said. “Where do you think you’ll go?”

Jenny thought for a minute, finishing up with a strap and standing up straight, staring into the distance. “I have someone I should be visiting soon. She and her sister need my help with something.”

“Is it urgent? You don’t have to come to the valley if you don’t want to,” Snufkin said.

“Oh no, I have plenty of time now. Besides, I want to see this place. You seem to really care about it,” Jenny smiled. “That and it rains too much this time of year where she lives.” She wrinkled her nose a little at that last bit. 

“Ok,” Snufkin shrugged with a smile.

Eventually, they finished packing up, Little My got back with the food, they all ate, and it was time to go.

It was a very long, exhausting few days. Their pace had to be a bit slow because of how malnourished and out of shape many of the creatures were, plus the sea horses had to carry the mermaids, and the centaur was carrying the heavy buckets with the other sea creatures that couldn’t be sloshed around too much.

The road was relatively flat for a good long while thankfully, but when they finally got to the mountain, everything was a bit more difficult.

They had to take one of the longer, less treacherous paths over it.

The mermaids and sea horses were starting to look a bit sickly from being dry for so long. Moominmamma was worried they might get heatstroke and tried to keep them hydrated.

Finally, they made it and everyone rushed to the beach. 

The mermaids laughed as the sea horses galloped straight into the waves and soon they were playing together, swimming around overjoyed to be back in a real ocean again after so long.

Just about everyone played in the water. They had a truly grand time.

A little while later everyone started getting hungry. They waved goodbye to the sea creatures and headed towards Moominhouse for lunch. 

Snufkin was happy to see his tent set up in its usual place, with all his things tucked neatly away inside. 

Jenny was curious to see it and see how he lived most of the year-round. 

Moominmamma really took charge, getting into her element as a hostess. She recruited Moominpappa, Moomintroll, and Sniff to start setting up the biggest table they had outside, asking Little My and Snorkmaiden to set the table and Joxter to go pick a bunch of fruit from the orchard. Snufkin was assigned to peel potatoes while Moominmamma cut up a bunch of veggies.

A few of the other creatures insisted on helping out too. Quinn the owl-cat and the centaur went and followed Joxter. Miretroll could be seen trailing after Little My carrying a stack of plates. Jenny insisted on helping in the kitchen.

Moominmamma really outdid herself with lunch that day, it was magnificent. Everyone agreed, coming away with full stomachs.

That afternoon, Snufkin, Moomintroll, Snorkmaiden, Little My, and Sniff all went to the field like old times just to relax and enjoy each other's company away from all the noise.

Little My chased bugs. Sniff looked for shiny rocks. Snorkmaiden picked flowers. Moomintroll and Snufkin laid in the grass staring up at the sky.

It was so peaceful. So normal. Snufkin could feel the dirt and the grass, he could smell the flowers and feel the breeze, he could hear the rushing river nearby.

The aching for the outdoors that had been in his bones was completely gone after their long trip.

Snufkin felt his eyes water again and he smiled. He was home.

………. 

It was the next day. Snufkin was sitting a bit stiffly on the couch in Moominhouse. The inspector was sitting in a chair across from him.

It was time for him to tell the inspector what happened while he was kidnapped so the inspector could make his report.

There were a bunch of other people in the room too. Moomintroll was sitting next to Snufkin. Moominmamma was handing out coffee and tea. Moominpappa was sitting in a chair, the book in his hand forgotten as he listened in. Snorkmaiden was standing near the kitchen looking a little anxious. Jenny and Quinn were sitting nearby too. They would need to give the inspector reports of what happened to them as well.

Snufkin fidgeted anxiously. Everyone was trying not to stare at him too much as they knew how uncomfortable it made him. 

He didn’t like the idea of laying out everything that had happened to him like this, though the Inspector had explained rather gently why he needed to know. Snufkin was still nervous though. Why did there have to be so many people in here? He was starting to really stress out.

“Maybe we should all give him some space? Why don’t you all go outside,” Moominmamma suggested, gently but firm. She gave Snufkin a reassuring, knowing look. 

She knew what was up.

Snufkin managed a thankful smile at her. He was still pretty nervous though.

Everyone looked around at each other awkwardly, but no one protested. Slowly, people started shuffling out to give them some privacy.

Moomintroll eventually, slowly started getting up too. Snufkin panicked a little. He didn’t exactly want Moomintroll to hear everything that happened to him, but he didn’t want the troll to leave either. 

A bit instinctively, Snufkin grabbed Moomintroll’s hand. Moomintroll looked a bit surprised.

“Do you. . Would you rather I stay?” Moomintroll asked tentatively.

Snufkin had frozen up. He was hiding under his hat. He managed a small, nervous nod.

Moomintroll gently sat back down next to him, clearly still surprised, but happy his best friend wanted him there.

Moominmamma even shooed out Moominpappa and soon it was just her, Snufkin, Moomintroll, and the inspector.

“Do you want me to go too, or should I stay?” Moominmamma asked, gently patting Snufkin’s shoulder.

Snufkin thought a minute. “You. . . You can stay. . .” He said in a very small voice. He was staring at the floorboards.

Moominmamma smiled and sat on his other side on the couch.

“Are you ready?” The inspector asked gently, pen ready in hand.

Snufkin felt seconds slowly tick by. They waited patiently for him to answer, silence filling the room.

Snufkin was sweating. It took a very long time for him to start speaking and his voice stayed rather quiet.

“I. . I was fishing by the river when they came up behind me,” he finally started. “They tried to knock me out with chloroform, but I managed to run away. I knew if they caught me, you guys would assume I just left on another adventure. So I made a mark in the ground so Moomintroll would know to find me.”

Moomintroll looked like things were clicking together in his head and starting to make sense.

“I tried to keep running, but they managed to grab me and finish using the chloroform. .” Snufkin stared at the ground, pausing.

The inspector nodded a bit. _Go on._

Snufkin took a shaky breath. “When I woke up they were carrying me towards the mountain. I- I couldn’t move, they’d tied me up. .” He took another shaky breath. Moomintroll held his hand and Snufkin squeezed it. “When we were halfway to the other side, they stopped to make camp. I heard someone else on the mountain so I yelled for help. It turned out to be my dad. He tried to save me, but-” He paused, eyes widening some from the memory. He was getting a bit pale but they couldn’t see it well from under his hat. A few seconds ticked by slowly as he tried to work up the courage to go on.

“My dad tried to fight them to save me, but Knoller put a knife against my throat to get him to back off,” He said, shuddering. 

Moomintroll and Moominmamma had heard this when Joxter told them, but the inspector gasped a little. 

He wrote more in his notebook as silence filled the air again. “Ok, keep going,” the inspector encouraged him calmly.

Once again it took a little while before Snufkin could get himself to speak again. “They. . . . They tied up my dad to a tree and left with me instead of staying the night. . We got to the other side where a carriage was waiting for them, and they shoved me in a trunk. I think I was stuck in there for two days,” Snufkin murmured, trailing off a bit as they all gasped.

Moomintroll gave his hand a squeeze.

“. . When they took me out I was in the museum. They gave me a tour, then they untied me and put me in my case.”

“. . Ok, ok. . .” the inspector murmured, writing more. “And did anything happen while you were in it?”

Snufkin thought. “A few things I guess. .” He remembered the next memorable thing that happened and started sweating worse, growing pale again even worse than before.

The inspector waited.

“Knoller tried to train me,” he said.

There were confused gasps around him.

“What do you mean, ‘train’ you?” the inspector asked, sounding concerned and a bit apprehensive.

“He. . . They had this metal device they put on me that shocks you when they press a button. Knoller wanted me to stop scratching up my case and play songs on my harmonica whenever someone asked. When I ignored him or refused, he shocked me,” Snufkin said a bit mumbly, absently rubbing his arm on his smock where the device had been. “A day later, when I kept scratching my case, they knocked me out with chloroform again and cut my claws,” he said, shakily holding his hand up and showing them the little nubs. 

Moomintroll was staring at him aghast. 

“He did get me to play songs a lot. . He had a lot of friends and guests who came over and demanded stuff a lot,” Snufkin murmured, continuing.

“They. . . _Trained_ you,” Moomintroll whispered. A minute later the troll gasped a bit sickeningly, seeming to come to a realization. Hesitantly, he spoke again.

“He trained you. . Snufkin, is that why you just went when he told you to come to him?” Moomintroll asked, sounding like he was scared to know.

Snufkin froze, his mouth just a tiny bit open as he thought about it. He’d tilted his hat up just a bit without realizing it and they all saw the gears turning in his head and how pale he was.

Snufkin’s eyes widened. He leaned over, cupping his forehead with his paw and leaning his elbow on his knee. He stared wide-eyed at the ground thinking about it.

Is that really what happened? Knoller actually just trained him enough to obey even if his instincts told him to run?

Snufkin remembered just wanting to protect Moomintroll and Jenny. He couldn’t stand the thought of Knoller hurting them. But threatening his friends had literally been one of Knoller’s training methods. 

Snufkin stared horrified at the ground, feeling his heart beating faster in his chest.

“Maybe we should finish this later,” Moominmamma said carefully, gently rubbing Snufkin’s back. “Why don’t we call Jenny or Quinn inside and you can get their story’s inspector? I think Snufkin could use a moment outside.”

She knew him too well.

Moomintroll helped lead a dazed Snufkin out the back door so he wouldn’t be bothered by everyone else seeing him and asking questions. 

They decided to just go on a walk through the field and down a forest path. 

For a long time, neither of them spoke. Moomintroll tried to be a comforting presence while Snufkin processed things.

Snufkin kept thinking back to that night. Knoller in front of him, Moomintroll slightly behind him grabbing his arm, Jenny on the ground a little ways away. Knoller’s intense, commanding voice beckoning him forward.

He was scared thinking about it. He was scared thinking of what Knoller had done to him, the instincts he’d put in him.

The forest and Moomintroll walking beside him helped. Forests had always felt like home to him. It helped calm him down. 

Snufkin just took a deep breath, letting his feet carry him away wherever he was going. He didn’t need a destination. He was ok.

Realizing that lifted a burden from his shoulders.

It didn’t matter what Knoller did because Knoller was gone. Snufkin was in a safe place, walking with his best friend.

Snufkin hardened his gaze. He walked with a bit more purpose. 

Moomintroll seemed to notice the change in him and gave him a warm smile. Snufkin smiled back.

That afternoon they decided to finally go fishing together like they’d planned before this whole debacle started. Snufkin was a bit anxious at first, but he stubbornly shoved his nerves aside. Knoller wasn’t here, he reminded himself.

Moomintroll arrived and he relaxed. They had a great time together and caught enough fish to share. Then Moomintroll snagged a really big one, but it ended up pulling him straight into the river, and the troll got soaked.

Snufkin laughed heartily and Moomintroll glared good-naturedly before snatching Snufkin’s leg and pulling him in too.

Snufkin was a bit shocked at first and then laughed even harder and the two boys splashed each other a bunch, scaring away the rest of the fish for a while.

They both collapsed on the riverbank later, resting in the summer sun and out of breath.

Snufkin smiled.

It was good to be back.


	16. A Worried Niece

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Knollermaiden waits on her Uncle's letter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Last Chapter! Aghh!!!!
> 
> Yep, it's short, but I really hope it's at least a _little_ intriguing. 
> 
> I remember the day I said I would be surprised if this story reached ten chapters. I expected to keep it short, but NO. Now it's nearly a full NaNoWriMo length novel and it has Sixteen chapters.
> 
> And I had a lot of fun with it! I'm glad I didn't force myself to keep it short.
> 
> And once again, Thank You All _So Much_ for reading, and commenting, and leaving kudos, you're all just the best and you guys made this more fun! 
> 
> I want to reply to more of your comments, but I just get so nervous about it, especially if I'm replying days late, but I still want to try to do it anyway because you guys make me so happy :)

Knollermaiden was anxious. She was worried about her uncle and the garden house. Yesterday he was supposed to visit or send a letter, but she had waited all day for nothing.

She wanted dearly to go back to his house to check on him, but she remembered his tone of voice when he’d told her to leave. She shivered a little.

She knew when he said he’d visit or write, she wasn’t supposed to go to him or visit his house.

Uncle wasn’t usually like this. The rare times he was usually had something to do with his collection.

One time she told one of her friends in the nearby town about her uncle’s collection, mentioning one of the creatures inside. The friend had been kinda confused and concerned and Uncle Knoller scolded her terribly for it. 

Knollermaiden hadn’t seen that friend in years now. 

Uncle said she moved far away.

“Do you think he’s angry at me?” Knollermaiden nervously asked Ann at lunch.

“Whatever would he be angry at you for?” Ann replied, refiling Knollermaiden’s glass.

Knollermaiden picked a little bit at the white tablecloth. She was eating on the porch like she usually did in good weather when she ate alone. 

“I don’t know. .” She said distantly, getting a bit lost in thought.

Ann eventually left to go clean something and Knollermaiden picked absently at her meal, staring into the yard.

She wished Ann could eat with her. It got very lonely sometimes. But Pappa had taught her it wasn’t proper and he’d been very strict about it. So strict that even years later when he was gone she still didn’t eat with maids no matter how lonely she got.

That was why she was so often asking her uncle to visit, or visiting him, or going into town.

Then Snorkmaiden had shown up. A new neighbor to visit and invite over, a girl about the same age with similar interests. Knollermaiden bonded quicker with her than anyone in a long time. She’d been so happy she managed to convince her uncle to show her his collection when Snorkmaiden became interested in it.

It had taken a lot of convincing. Knoller had been suspicious. Knollermaiden had said whatever she could to convince him and she did it. And Snorkmaiden had been in awe.

Then the next day Snorkmaiden came back and they got to bake together!

Knollermaiden loved baking and it was extra fun with a friend.

Knollermaiden wanted dearly to see Snorkmaiden again. She wished Snorkmaiden had told her where her house was. All she had said was that she moved nearby and she was a new neighbor.

Knollermaiden sighed. She was just hoping Snorkmaiden would randomly show up today like she had before. Then this time Knollermaiden would ask if she could go visit her house in the near future too.

If Snorkmaiden _didn’t_ just randomly show up, then. . Knollermaiden would just have to continue being lonely. After all, uncle would want her to stay home until he talked to her. She couldn’t go into town until he did. 

She sighed.

That day she spent a lot of time in the garden. Snorkmaiden never came.

Knollermaiden was starting to think instead of waiting she should just go looking for Snorkmaiden’s house. After all, that was how Snorkmaiden found her, right?

She pulled a few weeds up around the roses as she thought about this. She tossed them into a bucket nearby. 

Gardening was something she’d never been able to give up no matter how much her parents had disapproved. If only they could see her now, in an apron of all things, crouching down near the dirt.

Knollermaiden talked to the roses as she went, admiring them, telling them how nice they smelled and how these weeds were going away so they could soak up all the nutrients they needed now.

It was something she was embarrassed by if anyone saw her. People had ridiculed her for it quite a few times, talking to plants of all things.

It was evening and she heard Ann walking towards her. Knollermaiden hushed up, tossing another weed into the bucket and standing up as her maid approached.

“This just came,” Anna said, holding out a letter.

Knollermaiden quickly slipped off her gardening gloves and placed them next to the bucket so she could take it.

It was from Uncle Knoller.

She opened it nervously. 

_Dear Niece,_

_Don’t show this letter to anyone. Not even Ann._

_The police will be coming to ask you questions any day now. You are to do EXACTLY as I tell you._

_Do Not mention anything about the collection. Pretend you know absolutely nothing about it. Act surprised when they mention it._

_After they leave, take as much nonperishable food as you can carry to your parents' old house. Do Not let anyone follow you._

_This is very important. Burn this letter when you're done with it. Right Now._

_-Uncle Knoller_

Knollermaiden stared agape at the letter. What was going on?! What about the garden house fire? Why were the police coming? 

She walked back to the house in a stupor, even forgetting to put away the gardening stuff. She went to the kitchen and looked around for a match.

Uncle had never told her to burn a letter before. She could barely remember the last time he’d been this urgent. It scared her.

A little ways away in the house, she heard someone ring the doorbell. Ann was going to get it.

Knollermaiden’s first thought was that it could be Snorkmaiden and she was elated, but then she remembered the letter mentioning the police and she felt a crushing anxiety.

She fumbled through a drawer for a match. Whoever it was, Knollermaiden couldn’t let them see the letter apparently.

She just started lighting it when Ann came in looking a little aghast.

“Policemen are here. They need to talk to you,” Ann said, sounding a little baffled.

“Tell them I’ll be a second. Take them to the parlor,” Knollermaiden said. Ann looked even more baffled at the burning letter in Knollermaiden’s hands.

“I’m just as clueless as you,” Knollermaiden said, slightly pale. Ann just nodded and left. She knew how odd her uncle could be sometimes.

Knollermaiden dropped the burning letter in the sink and waited for it to finish turning to ash before washing it all down.

She washed her hand too, wiping them off nervously, and left towards the parlor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _The End._
> 
> But not really. I have a sequel and a one-shot in the works. . . . He, he, he. . .
> 
> Also, if you want to follow me elsewhere, on Wattpad I'm @DeborahJean2ofClubs, and I'm also on youtube, but I only have a few videos and I don't think they're very good because I need a lot more practice, but I'm Deborah Jean on there too. 
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6do8UX02Z3uwiWSSBuqfLA   
> https://www.wattpad.com/user/DeborahJean2ofClubs


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